44-Year old Rhonda Tavey has been arrested in Houston and charged with five counts of kidnapping. 

Tavey had been taking care of the five children from New Orleans since 2006, after Hurricane Katrina. The childrens' mother ... Erica Alphonse, put them in Tavey's care after the hurricane.  But when their birth mother came back to get them ... Authorities say Tavey took off with the kids.  Tavey says the kids were forced to live in a crack house there and that their mother abused them.  Erica Alfonse denied those claims.

If convicted, Rhonda Tavey could spend up to ten years in prison or have to pay a $10,000 fine.