A Pennsylvania day care owner and her daughter have been sentenced to a year probation in the death of a 10-month-old baby. The police believe the baby was killed by a 7-year-old while in the care of the woman and her daughter.
Like millions of moms, I have a baby who is in full time day care and a lump in my throat after reading about what happened. Even though they were not personally responsible, I still have a hard time accepting the verdict that was handed down.
Authorities believe that a 7-year-old child hurt the 10-month-old by beating her and throwing her onto a carpeted concrete floor, which fractured the baby's skull. Police say it happened in 2008 at an in-home day care center when the children were temporarily left alone.
It's not known from the article if this at-home day care center had a license or if this was a case of someone watching kids in her home without any type of accreditation. To obtain accreditation, day care centers need to meet state requirements that, among other things, mandate the ratio of babies to caregivers. Precisely to keep things like this from happening!
If this day care chose to operate without proper regulation, I think the penalty should have been much more severe. If they were operating with a license but no one was keeping an eye on the place? That's even worse.
The day care is now closed and the owner has apologized in court, but that seems like little consolation. I think they were ultimately responsible for what happened to the baby and to think that one year from now, they could open another day care and start all over again? It seems so. very. wrong.
Do you think a one-year probation sentence is severe enough for these circumstances? Does this make you worried about day care?
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Comments 27
I don't know about them not being "personally responsible." I don't agree with that at all. they were supposed to be supervising these children. The reports of this that I've read all say the children were (for some reason I can't fathom) unattended when this happened. If I pay you to watch my child, I expect you to watch them. End of story.
I always worried about daycare. When I was pregnant with my son I had a nervous breakdown in a restaurant while discussing it with my husband. He didn't understand until one day, flipping through the channels, there was a hidden video showing a woman slapping a 6 month old baby. My generally laid back husband stopped dead in his tracks, got a funny look on his face, and said very quietly, "I'd kill her...If anyone hit my child like that, I would be in jail." We were fortunate to find a trusted friend who watched him until recently (I now stay home and he goes to a wonderful preschool part time).
I'm a little more concerned about that 7 year old.
That makes my heart hurt and my stomach turn. It is exactly why I am a full time mommy. I don't think the punishment was nearly severe enough. A life was taken. Wether the lady and her daughter did it personally is moot. They were in charge. They left these babies alone.
I agree with Joye Austin. 7 year olds should know better.
HECK NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They should have served time at least 3-5 YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm familiar with this case and I think there was gross negligence........
This was a HOME BASE DAY CARE..not a typically DAY CARE CENTER.
A friend of mine and her mother run a daycare. My son went there for a VERY short time...I should have known better anyway. I mean...my friend doesn't watch her own children well...why would I think she would do that to mine (Her 18 month old walked TWO BLOCKS (crossing an alley and a street) before she realized he was even GONE!!!!). I took my son out when her mom started dating a guy who was classified as a sex offender...and they didn't notify the parents....they just tried to get it 'okayed' by the courts....
My friend was given a warning because someone called in that the children were in the back yard by themselves. She said "I was only in the house for a minute"....I don't think that's a good enough excuse!
Yup this is why I am a stay at home mom. I would be out for blood if my child ended up dead due to someones negligence.
I would NEVER put my kids into day care! That just scares the hell out of me. And what is wrong with the 7 year old kid?! That kid must be psychotic to kill a baby (sounded like he/she hurt the baby on purspose). Wow peolpe are crazy!
I'm in the "The 7 year old has serious issues" camp. I have a 6 year old, and he'd never in a million years do something like that.