O'Brien goes back to prison

A Kalispell woman accused of leaving her 2- and 3-year-old girls home alone for more than nine hours in squalid conditions was back in jail Thursday.

Rachel Marie O'Brien, 24, was arrested on a warrant for violating the terms of her release on a pending theft charge after making an appearance in Flathead County District Court for a probation revocation hearing.

O'Brien was originally arrested Aug. 20 on a $50,000 warrant for two counts of criminal endangerment for neglecting her children.

She was released that same day on her own recognizance after an initial hearing in Justice Court.

However, being arrested for criminal endangerment violated the terms of her probation on a 2004 conviction for writing bad checks, which was why she was back in court for a revocation hearing Thursday.

And being arrested for criminal endangerment also violated the terms of her release on a pending 2006 theft case. A warrant was issued Tuesday for her arrest on that charge. O'Brien was re-arrested, on that warrant, after her probation revocation hearing.

O'Brien is now in the Flathead County Detention Center on $20,000 bond for that arrest.

Flathead County prosecutors filed a motion this week to increase O'Brien's bond on the criminal endangerment charges after discovering she was originally released on her own recognizance.

In response, defense attorneys filed a motion for O'Brien to be again released on her own recognizance.

A hearing to determine O'Brien's new bond for the criminal endangerment charges and the bond for her arrest for violation of conditions of release will be held Sept. 13. The probation hearing and the motion to release O'Brien on her own recognizance will also be heard on that date.

O'Brien was charged with criminal endangerment after a concerned neighbor noticed her two small children had been left alone all day.

When Kalispell police entered O'Brien's 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.

"The apartment was cluttered. The TV was on with only loud static coming from it," court documents read.

"The kitchen garbage was overflowing with feces-smeared toilet paper and feces-filled diapers. A frying pan with rotting food was on the counter," the documents said.

O'Brien was at work that day from about 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., time cards show. Police recovered her children at about 8:30 p.m.

The children were turned over to the Montana Department of Child and Family Services, which refused to comment about where the children are now. Officials cited state confidentiality laws.

At the time of her criminal endangerment arrest, O'Brien was found in possession of a marijuana pipe.

She was also serving a five-year deferred sentence for writing bad checks and is currently awaiting trial on separate felony theft charges.

If convicted, O'Brien faces up to 20 years in prison and $100,000 in fines.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com