INDIANAPOLIS -- The parents of an 11-year-old girl whose second- and third-degree burns went untreated for nearly two weeks appeared in court for the first time on Tuesday.

Fredrick and Sharon Wessel were charged on Friday with felony child neglect resulting in serious bodily injury. They were arrested last week after someone in the neighborhood called 911 to report that their daughter, Heather Wessel, had been badly burned, 6News' Jack Rinehart reported.

Police said the girl was standing near a propane heater inside the family's southeast-side home at 343 Villa Ave. on Dec. 24 when her pajama bottoms caught fire. Her parents told police that she had been unable to walk, but that they had been treating her burns with moisturizer.

"This is, no question, undoubtedly a case where we have parents that did not seek adequate medical care for their children," said Mark Busby with the Marion County Prosecutor's Office. "When a parent has a duty to take care of their children and fails to seek medical care, it is a crime in this state and we need to pursue it."

According to the probable cause affidavit, Sharon Wessel told police that the home had not had heat since they moved in and that she owed more than $1,000 on her gas bill. Investigators said the home did have water, phone service and cable TV.

Six people quoted in the affidavit, including several family members, told police that they had seen the girl lying on the couch in pain, and had known that she was not able to walk because of the burns. They told police Fredrick and Sharon Wessel said they were afraid they would go to jail if they took their daughter to a hospital.

Ambulance records obtained by 6News showed that Fredrick Wessel -- who recently underwent a tracheotomy -- called medics to the family's home at least once for himself after his daughter had been burned.

Heather Wessel was last listed in critical condition at Riley Hospital For Children. Her 14-year-old brother was taken into custody by Child Protective Services.

Fredrick Wessel's bond was set at $200,000, while Sharon Wessel's bond was set at $100,000. Their trial was scheduled for March.