DENVER -- A woman accused of repeatedly hitting her two young children on a flight to Denver appeared in federal court Thursday morning and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Tamera Jo Freeman, 38, was arrested after her Frontier Airlines flight from San Francisco landed in Denver last week.

Freeman is charged with two counts of assault on a child under 16 and one count of interfering with a flight attendant.

The federal judge ordered that she remain in a Jefferson County jail, saying he was worried that she would not appear for further court proceedings because she lives in California and has no ties to Colorado.

"If the judge determines that someone is a flight risk, that the won't stay around for the proceedings in their case, that they won't stay around for trial, then the judge has the right to and often does hold people without bond," said legal analyst and attorney Daniel Recht.

Neither Freeman nor her court-appointed lawyer, Martha Eskesen, asked that she be released on bond.

He also said that her medical condition could be "problematic" and alluded to criminal history in Hawaii but didn't elaborate on her medical condition or her previous arrests.

Court records show that a woman with the same name and same birthdate has had two arrests for "abuse of family and household members" in Hawaii. However, charges in one of the cases were dismissed. She pleaded "no contest" to the abuse of family charge in a second case in 2005 and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and a year of probation.

A second domestic violence charge in the second case was dismissed.

That woman was also arrested for violating a protection order pertaining to domestic abuse. The woman pleaded no contest.

According to her arrest affidavit, witnesses said Freeman was slapping and punching the children on their legs, shoulders and knees and that the children were crying and cowering on the floor.

She was using profane language, appeared intoxicated and had been drinking heavily on the flight, witnesses said.

When passengers alerted the flight attendant, the attendant intervened and Freeman told her to "mind her own business and provide her another alcoholic beverage," according to the affidavit.

When she was denied more alcohol, Freeman allegedly threw a drink on the floor and confronted the flight attendant in a common area.

The affidavit said Freeman became verbally abusive toward the flight attendant and the flight attendant had to took a defensive stance.

Freeman went back to her seat but the attendant requested that a corrections officer who was a passenger on the plane sit next to Freeman.

The attendant then grabbed duct tape and had to stand next to Freeman for the remainder of the flight to prevent her from causing further problems, according to the affidavit.

"Frankly, since 9-11, these are much more serious cases," said Recht.

Freeman told investigators that she slapped her children because they were fighting over a window shade and because they had spilled her drink. She denied throwing a drink, saying she had set it down on the floor on the aisle.

She also added she "lost it" while on the plane.

Freeman's 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son have been placed in the custody of family members in California.

Flight 108 was met by Denver officers when it landed in Denver July 16.

According to the witnesses, Freeman appeared intoxicated and violent towards her children before she boarded the plane. One woman said that at the San Francisco airport, she saw Freeman drop her son on the ground, making him hit his back and head on the floor.

The charge of interference with flight attendant carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fine. Each assault charge could lead to one year in prison and $100,000 in fine.

Prosecutors earlier said that the pretrial service report recommended Freeman be released to a halfway house but there was no space available.

Recht said that it's highly unlikely that the case will go to trial. He said the fact that Freeman is still in jail is some indication that there will be a plea deal. He said Freeman will get credit for each day she has already spent behind bars.

• July 25, 2007: Mom Arrested After Flight Disturbance Indicted
• July 21, 2007: Mom Accused Of Violent Flight Disturbance
• July 19, 2007: Woman Accused Of Hitting Children On Flight Arrested