Kalispell mom gets prison in neglect case
A Kalispell woman accused of leaving her 2- and 3-year-old girls home alone for more than nine hours in filthy conditions will spend five years in prison and five years on probation.
Rachel Marie O'Brien, 24, was sentenced Wednesday in Flathead County District Court.
As a condition of her sentence, prosecutors asked that after O'Brien is released from prison she work through the probation office with the Glacier Center for Families.
O'Brien pleaded guilty in September to two counts of criminal endangerment for neglecting her children. She was sentenced Wednesday to two 10-year prison sentences, both with five years suspended, to run concurrently.
Pursuant to a deal with prosecutors, she also pleaded guilty to felony theft charges stemming from a 2006 case in which she was indicted for stealing jewelry while employed as a housekeeper. For that offense, O'Brien was sentenced to a five-year prison term, also to run concurrently.
Her guilty pleas also effectively revoked her probation on a 2004 conviction for writing bad checks. She was re-sentenced to a five-year prison term on that charge, again to run concurrently.
At her change-of-plea hearing, O'Brien expressed remorse for the way she left her children that day.
O'Brien testified that she only left her children because a babysitter never showed up, and she didn't return immediately after work because she got a flat tire and had to take the car into the shop.
Time cards show O'Brien was at work that day from about 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Police recovered her children at about 8:30 p.m.
O'Brien was originally arrested Aug. 20 on a $50,000 warrant for two counts of criminal endangerment for neglecting her children, but was released that same day on her own recognizance after an initial hearing in Justice Court.
She was re-arrested Sept. 6 on a warrant for probation violation - the criminal endangerment charges violated the terms of her release on the theft charges.
O'Brien's most recent legal troubles began when a concerned neighbor noticed the children home alone and called police. When officers entered O'Brien's Liberty Street apartment on Aug. 4, they found half-eaten food spilled all over the floor, a piece of toilet paper with feces on it lying in the middle of the room, and a knife balanced within the children's reach.
Dirty diapers, feces-smeared laundry, and rotting food was also found in the apartment.
The children are currently in the care of their father.
Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com