ANDERSON, Ind. — Twin 2-year-olds spent 10 days in an Indianapolis hospital this month after suffering from alleged severe malnutrition and other alleged neglect over several months.

Their parents have since been jailed.

Police believe the twins, and their 6- and 7-year-old sisters, had been living in a 16-square-foot, feces-strewn area of a home without adequate food and water.

The twins’ arms were no bigger around than a quarter, according to the complainant who alerted authorities. The twins were taken from the home and hospitalized on June 12, the date their older sisters were placed in foster care. The toddlers were released from the hospital after 10 days and are now in foster care, as well.

Police arrested the children’s mother, Kim Robinson, 32, on June 23. A day later, their father, Stephen E. Auker, 38, surrendered to authorities.

Auker and Robinson each are charged with two Level 3 felonies for neglect of a dependent and are jailed on a full cash bond of $20,000. Authorities believe Auker and Robinson had been living together at the home where the children were taken into custody, until a few weeks ago when Robinson apparently moved out.

“If (the twins) continued on the path they were on,” Anderson Police Department Detective Jon Needler wrote in a probable cause affidavit, “they could only have lived months … not years, and would have likely died of malnutrition.”

The person who reported the condition of the twins to authorities said in an interview Monday that she contacted the Indiana Department of Child Services five weeks ago to request the DCS visit the home. That visit, by the DCS and Anderson police, was made June 12.

The DCS did not return calls Monday from The Herald Bulletin seeking comment.

“They (twins) were just fine until a few months ago,” said the woman, who agreed to an interview on the condition the newspaper not identify her. “We were not allowed to see them. Their arms were the size of quarters. I was afraid that one day we would find out one of them had died.”

She said the four children had no beds and were not being fed properly. She said the oldest girl, 7, is unable to count to 10.

“Being in foster care is best if it means getting them away from their mom and dad,” the woman said.

Needler wrote in the affidavit that the home had “an atrocious smell.”

“The house was in complete disarray with dog, cat feces, dirty diapers, trash, dirty clothing and dishes,” he added.

Needler noted that it appeared the children were being kept in a 4-foot-by-4-foot area that contained “a great deal of debris,” a couch and a television.

According to the court document, the children had no food or drink, no child safety seats and were wearing the only sets of clothing they had. They reportedly had lice, as well.

“Both (the twins) show severe signs of neglect in a sense that it appears that they were not being fed,” Needler wrote.

The twins weighed 16 and 17 pounds when they were transported to area Riley Hospital for Children. An average 30-month-old child weighs 27 to 32 pounds.

Auker could not provide sufficient reasons why the twins were in such bad condition, Needler wrote in the affidavit. Doctors indicated the twins suffered from bone thinning, which is consistent with nutritional deficiency.

Neither child was able to walk, crawl or stand and could only do, physically, what an average six-month-old child can do, according to the affidavit. The twins were not able to speak or eat solid foods with a spoon or fork, which would be expected in normal children of their age.

Court records show both twins have gained weight since their June 12 admission to the hospital, another indication that their condition was caused by nutritional deficiency.

De la Bastide writes for the Anderson (Ind.) Herald Bulletin.