Two Kalispell women each face three charges of felony criminal endangerment in Flathead District Court after they allegedly locked three children in a dark basement without any access to food or a proper toilet.

Amy Newman, 46, and Crystal Mears, 37, were charged on Wednesday. As of Friday, they had not been arrested, although District Judge Robert Allison issued $15,000 warrants for each woman.

According to court documents, the Kalispell Police Department received a report on March 21 from the Department of Family Services that children had been removed from a home on Fifth Avenue West in Kalispell.

A report had been made to school staff that the children “were subject to conduct that created a substantial risk to their well-being,” according to court documents.

Specifically, someone claimed that the children — ages 12, 11, and 9 — had been locked in the basement for extended periods of time without access to lighting, a toilet or food.

An investigating officer found there were three small mattresses and no other furniture in the basement room, and no light other than what was coming from a crack in a window. The windows had been boarded up.

There was no fire or smoke alarm in the basement. There allegedly were numerous locks, including padlocks and zip ties, on the basement door.

Newman was interviewed and allegedly admitted locking the children in the basement. She allegedly said that the children had access to a bucket to relieve themselves. Newman allegedly said that both she and Mears kept the keys to the locks.

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