Teriomas Tremice Johnson, 31, is accused of leaving her three children in a Pontiac, Michigan, apartment that did not have running water and was littered with human waste and rotten food.

Now, the father of Johnson's 9-year-old daughter is speaking out after the child and her siblings were found living in what authorities call "deplorable condition."

"I stayed there for hours. I was determined not to leave until I came back with my daughter," said Julian Gary. "This was going on for a while, and I'm sick of it. I'm tired of having to chase to protect my daughter."

Gary says his 9-year-old daughter is doing better every day after being rescued from the apartment. He says he spent years trying to maintain a civil relationship with his daughter's mother.

"It was a rocky situation. We were both confused on how to go forward, you know, being younger adults. So, I would hope, and figured that at this age, we would have it figured out, but we never figured it out," said Gary.

Gary says the last few months were especially difficult, with Johnson cutting off contact completely, leaving him in the dark until this weekend.

"I was shocked when I saw the pictures on the news. I was like, 'OK, I expected the worst,' but this is worse than what I expected,'" he said.

Gary says the photos are still hard for him to look at. With the children removed from the home and Johnson being arrested and charged with three counts of second-degree child abuse, Gary says the day still haunts him.

"I broke down in tears. I couldn't even drive; my brother had to drive me," he said. "I could see the damage done. She looked like she looked like she wasn't cared for. Her hair was a little knotted. Clothes were dirty, the first hug I could smell that she wasn't living in great conditions."

Melanie Richards with Kids-TALK Children's Advocacy Center says situations like this underline the difficulties of addressing abuse until it reaches a critical level.

"Is there something that was missed? Is there something that we can learn from this? Is there legislation that needs to be changed? There's all of those things, but until you have the full, full picture, you have to start there," said Richards.

Although Richards is not directly involved with the case, she says the response highlights the need to work together to make sure other children avoid a similar fate.

"Child abuse and neglect is a solvable problem. But it can't be done by just one system, one professional, one discipline. It is a community. We need to surround the community, because everybody can play their part," said Richards.

Gary says his daughter is already making great progress, surrounded by family and getting ready to start in a new school with her other siblings.

"They're bonded. They've been through a lot of struggles together, so the last thing I want to do is break that," he said.