Colorado Springs daycare owner sentenced to 6 years for child abuse charges

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Carla Faith, the Colorado Springs daycare owner who was arrested after police found dozens of children hidden behind a false wall in a basement, has been sentenced to six years in prison.

Faith, the owner of Play Mountain Place, faced 26 counts of child abuse, one count of attempting to influence a peace officer, and three counts of operating a daycare without a license. She was found guilty on all charges in August.

Faith was sentenced during a hearing Thursday in Colorado Springs.

According to previous testimony, Faith ran Play Mountain Place out of her home on East Willamette Avenue since at least 2012, according to a civil suit filed against her. She was licensed through the Department of Human Services, but she was only supposed to be operating out of part of her home and was only allowed to have six kids in her care at a time. She also wasn't approved to have any employees working for her that cared for children. She allegedly had at least four employees caring for kids at her daycare, none of them had DHS-approved training or background checks.

Body-worn camera footage from the CSPD officers was played in court during closing arguments. It shows an officer asking one of Faith's employees, Swauger, if she worked at Play Mountain Place, as a child was being picked up by their parents. She tells the officers that she doesn't work there, she's just a friend. This exchange is what prompted a charge of "attempting to influence a public servant" to be filed against Swauger, as the prosecution argues that she lied to investigators.

That footage then shows officers walking around the daycare with Faith and repeatedly asking her to tell them where the kids were at her daycare. She initially said she wasn't caring for any, then she said they were at a nearby park. Officers kept prying and found a pile of backpacks hidden under blankets. Faith told the officer that she cleans backpacks for a local soccer team, the officer said she felt that was not very likely. Then, Faith asked the officers if they have a search warrant to search her property. The officers tell her that because they are performing a welfare check and that the health and safety of children are in question, a search warrant was not needed.

Eventually, officers discover a false wall inside the daycare leading to a basement. Inside, with all the lights off, police found two employees and 25 children ages 2 and under in the basement. One of those employees, Fresquez, testified that it was "nap time," but also said she was instructed to bring all of her children down there and stay quiet. She said this wasn't a regular occurrence, but it would sometimes happen if Faith was giving a tour to new parents.