Women sent to prison for locking children in basement

Flathead District Judge Robert Allison went beyond the bounds of a plea agreement and sent two women to prison Friday for locking their children in the basement. 

Allison said it was one of the most difficult decision’s he’s made in his time on the bench, but he decided to sentence Amy Lynn Newman, 46, to eight years in Montana Women’s Prison with three years suspended for each of the two counts of felony criminal endangerment that Newman pleaded guilty to earlier this year. Her partner, Crystal Mears, 37, was sentenced to six years in Montana State Women’s Prison, with three years suspended for each of the two counts of felony criminal endangerment that she pleaded guilty to as part of a plea agreement. The sentences on both counts in both cases will run concurrently, Allison said.

A plea agreement in the case had called for the women to receive a six-year deferred sentence, which would have allowed the women to serve time on probation, and have the felony convictions removed from their records if they successfully completed their sentences. 

“I think these children were both abused and neglected by the defendants ... I find it somewhat ironic that the parties are asking for probation for having imprisoned the children,” Allison said of the sentencing decision.

Testimony at a previous sentencing hearing included testimony from five of Newman’s adoptive children ages nine through 16, who said they were locked in basement bedrooms, sometimes without basic amenities like a toilet or a mattress. They said they were fed only peanut butter sandwiches, with other food padlocked away, though other family members were fed regular meals. The children said they were physically hit with rulers and metal coat hangers, in addition to being locked in the bedrooms. 

Though Mears’ mother testified that the children were lying, in his oral judgment Allison gave the children’s testimony weight in the whole picture of evidence collected.  

“Children do lie. When I was a child, I lied sometimes. But in this case I believe the children have been pretty consistent and there are five of them ... I didn’t hear much in the way of inconsistency,” Allison said. 

Allison noted that according to court records, the basement where the children lived was found boarded up when a search warrant was issued, with only three mattresses as furniture, no light and no access to a proper toilet. There were also locks and zip ties found in the home that restricted access to food and the basement, he said.

“The physical conditions sound appalling,” Allison said. “I was going to say that it’s more like a prison cell, but a prison cell has lights and a toilet and is better than what these children were living in.” 

Allison said that according to evidence in the court file, two of the children reportedly ate so voraciously after they were taken from the home that they would sometimes vomit. Only with the passage of time did the children seem to develop a normal relationship with food, Allison said. 

The judge said the children had been placed in Newman and her husband’s care as adoptees, but that the husband was sent to prison for breaking one of the children’s arms. Newman and Mears eventually entered into a relationship and moved in together. 

“The children all describe a deterioration in their conditions when Crystal moved in,” Allison said. “It went from bad to worse.” 

MEARS AND Newman both spoke to Allison Friday, and pointed out their relatively clean prior criminal histories. They also reiterated previous testimony that they believed the facts in the case amounted to discipline that went too far. 

The women previously testified that the children were locked in their rooms at night because some of the children had tried to start a fire or shoved cat food down each other’s throats. They did not admit to any other elements of the case during their change of plea hearing. 

“I think what we’ve seen today is that Ms. Newman took the actions she took not to harm her kids, but for tough love and as a form of discipline,” Newman’s attorney Sean Hinchey said. “The choices that she made were not the right choices, but her intent was not ill will or with an evil purpose.” 

Newman broke down in tears as she testified. 

“Please look at my history,” Newman said. “I don’t want to go to jail. I didn’t mean to hurt my children. I only wanted to protect them. I feel that I am punished every day because I don’t have them anymore.” 

Mears was more composed. She said she never locked the children in the basement, but instead said that she would sit awake at night at the stop of the stairs to the basement, in case they got out of bed. She said she still remembers the children happily building forts in the home and dancing around the living room. 

“That’s what I try to hold on to,” Mears said. “These kids have imprinted on my heart. Even though they aren’t with us, I still think about them and I still love them ... I never once locked them in a room.” 

Prosecutor Allison Howard did not buy into the pleas to the judge. 

“I think what infuriates me the most about this case is that this is the first time we have seen any sign of remorse from these women,” Howard said. 

She pointed out that letters submitted to the judge and reports to a pre-sentence investigator seemed to indicate that Mears and Newman see themselves of the victims of the children. 

“It seems very suspicious to me that all of these problems they talked about the children having don’t exist anymore in the children’s lives ... The fact that anyone can come in here and claim they were victims of these children is ridiculous.” Howard noted. 

Howard said the children are now doing very well in their new homes now that they have been removed from Newman’s care. 

“These children are all doing wonderfully and I think we can all hope this is a new chapter in their lives where they can be healthy and loved,” Howard said. 

Mears and Newman will each receive credit for one day time served. 

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.