653 Hepburn Street. SUN-GAZETTE FILE PHOTO

Hearing the screams of the children coming from a unit at the two-story Victoria Gardens at 653 Hepburn St. about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, two neighbors walked into Crystal Zamorski’s and Destiney Kellar’s apartment to find three children abandoned; two of them – a 2-year-old and 9-year-old – locked in a small bedroom, according to a city police affidavit. The walls in the bedroom were covered with feces, police said. A third minor, a 1-year-old toddler, was in an infant bed “that had soiled clothing inside it,” and there were large piles of soiled diapers surrounding the bed, police said.

The neighbors called police immediately. “I’ve never seen such deplorable conditions,” one officer later said, court records stated.

The children live in the apartment with their mothers, Kellar, 22, and Zamorski, 31, both of whom had abandoned them, police alleged in the affidavit.

“The entire apartment was covered in mold, various types of bugs and feces,” an officer wrote in the affidavit. The toddler in the infant bed “was covered in bugs,” the officer said, adding that one of the children locked in the bedroom “was found covered in filth and feces,” court records stated. The 9-year-old is a special needs child with the “cognitive functions of a 4-year-old,” police said.

Paramedics evaluated the children at the scene and none needed medical care, however the 1-year-old “had a severe (case) of diaper rash,” police said. The children have been placed in protective custody by the county’s Children and Youth Department, police said.

Kellar and Zamorski returned to the apartment about 8:15 p.m., police said. “Both admitted to locking the two older children in the room covered with feces. The two mothers admitted to locking them in this room at least once a day,” the affidavit stated. Police described the lock as “a makeshift lock.”

The women admitted to “locking the two oldest in the room while leaving the youngest unsupervised so many times that they would have difficulty even guessing how often it happened,” police said, adding that Zamorski admitted that her children “would be safer if she did not have custody of them.”

Both she and Kellar were arraigned before District Judge Denise Dieter on three counts each of felony endangering the welfare of children and misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person. During the proceedings, one officer told the judge “There were bugs everywhere. I really can’t describe how bad it was.” Zamorski and Kellar were committed to the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $85,000 bail each.