Woman pleads not guilty to neglect

A Kalispell woman accused of leaving her 2- and 3-year-old girls home alone for more than nine hours in squalid conditions tearfully entered not guilty pleas Thursday to two counts of criminal endangerment in Flathead County District Court.

Rachel Marie O'Brien, 24, also entered general denials to allegations that she violated her probation on a 2004 conviction for writing bad checks. She was previously sentenced to a five-year deferred prison term for that offense.

Prosecutors argue that her pending criminal endangerment charges were a violation of her probation.

The probation revocation hearing will be held Sept. 27. Also scheduled to be heard on that date are the prosecutor's motion to increase bail and the defense's motion to release O'Brien on her own recognizance.

O'Brien has been in the Flathead County Detention Center since Sept. 6 after her arrest for violating the terms of her release on a separate pending 2006 theft charge.

She is being held in lieu of $20,000 bail.

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.

But since being arrested for criminal endangerment also violated the terms of her release on the pending 2006 theft case, prosecutors issued an arrest warrant Sept. 4 and took her into custody on that charge Sept. 6 after her initial probation revocation hearing.

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 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.

"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.

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