Mother Arrested After Allegedly Locking Kids In Bedroom

FOUNTAIN, Colo. (CBS4) - A mother has been arrested after she allegedly locked her kids in a bedroom while she was away on a trip several states away. Police say the children were covered in their own filth.

When officers arrived at Kanesha Godin's home, located in the 100 block of Wellington Street in Fountain, they found two very young children alone in a bedroom.

According to the affidavit, the room had an overwhelming smell of feces and urine. The children were covered in their own feces and there were several soiled diapers and trash scattered around as well as feces and urine stains on the floor.

The feces covered the toddler bed and crib as well as other surfaces.

The children were released to their father who told police he and Godin had been estranged for more than a year.

Godin, 25, according to police, had arranged for an unidentified friend to check on the children daily to feed them and change their diapers.

The friend had been told that Godin had a neighbor providing childcare throughout the day and night while she was out of town. That friend told police she never saw the neighbor or had contact with the neighbor.

When the friend saw the kids' malnourished condition, and learned there was no neighbor, they contacted the authorities. The friend told police that the children's diapers were changed and that they were given a TV dinner and then returned to the bedroom and locked in.

According to the arrest affidavit, the light in the bedroom did not work and the thermostat was turned up to 90 degrees.

On Tuesday, an arrest warrant was issued for Godin, who subsequently turned herself in to the Fountain Police Department and is being held on charges of two felony counts for child abuse.

Godin told police that she left Colorado on March 3 and flew to North Carolina to be with her mother who had just had surgery. She was scheduled to return on March 17.

Her commanding officer called Godin and told her to be on the next flight home.

According to the arrest affidavit, Godin texted the woman who was feeding the children, "The police officers in fountain r guna ask u questions. They r guna put me in jail. I need u to do me a favor. I know wat I told u as far as the kids but plz say tht u were confused about who was supposed to stay the night. Cus if u don't say tht I'm guna be charged with child neglect. And Cynthia actin shady af. They are guna take the kids. Erase these messages."

The neighbor named by Godin told police that she had not seen the children since December 2016. She said that Godin did not ask her to babysit the children although she had babysat them in the past and she thought they were with their father. She showed police a text that Godin sent her on March 9, "I need u to do me a favor. I need u to vouch as my daytime sitter. They r guna take my kids and throw me in jail and I did nothing wrong. I kno it's weird and a lot but I just want to ask u tht favor."