Mother Whose Family at Times Lived at Merle Hay Mall Store Seeks Lower Bail

A Des Moines mother accused of neglecting or abandoning children who her husband allegedly abused is asking to have her $30,000 bond lowered so she can take advantage of state-provided child welfare services, according to the Des Moines Register.

Kijua Beaudrie, 35, has a court hearing Tuesday on her request to have the bond lowered by two-thirds – a move that court papers say would allow her to post $1,000 cash and be free to use the services of “a domestic violence advocate through Children and Families of Iowa … to secure temporary and permanent housing.”

Beaudrie was arrested last month on three counts of child neglect. Her husband, 36-year-old James Julius Beaudrie, is being held on eight counts of third-degree sexual abuse that authorities say involved three of the couple’s nine children, the newspaper reported.

Des Moines police say the Beaudrie family lived for several months in the back of GameSip, a video and board game store the couple ran in Merle Hay Mall. Police say they found a futon, a small microwave and cushions in the back of the store. The children slept on the floor, and the family occasionally stayed in hotels to shower or do laundry.

State officials removed the children, who range in age from 6 months to 16 years, to foster care earlier this year, the Register said. Authorities say tales of abuse emerged after the children were separated from their father.

James Beaudrie fled to Chicago when his wife was arrested. He was captured late last month and faces a preliminary hearing on Thursday, according to the Register.

Court papers filed on Kijua Beaudrie’s behalf note a state agency’s ongoing responsibility “for supervising all contact between the defendant and her children.”

Kijua Beaudrie “has minimal criminal history and is not a flight risk,” court papers assert. Documents say she also “is not such a risk of harm to society that her release would endanger the community.”

Court papers note that “prior to her incarceration, defendant had been engaging in therapeutic services to address her parenting needs.”

Our May 7 Story:

A man who took up residence in a mall gaming store with his family has been returned to Polk County after being accused of sexually abusing three of his children.

The Des Moines Register reported Monday that James Beaudrie, 36, was booked into the Polk County Jail around 9:20 p.m. Sunday. He remains behind bars on a $200,000 cash only bond.

, who owns Gamesip at Merle Hay Mall, is charged with eight counts of third-degree sexual abuse.

He was captured by U.S. Marshals at his mother's Chicago home on April 19 after a two-week nationwide search.

Beaudrie's wife Kijua, 35, also remains in jail on a $30,000 bond; she is charged with three counts of child neglect.

According to KCCI.com, Des Moines Police in November charged James Beaudrie with assault causing injury of his teenage daughter. The daughter ran away from home on Jan. 30, police said.

All nine of James and Kijua Beaudrie's children were placed in shelters or foster homes pending the investigation, the TV station reported.

The Register reported that while charges only include alleged incidents in Des Moines since October 2011, when the family moved to the city, investigators said they believe physical abuse on multiple children had been ongoing before then.