Parents of toddlers at shutdown daycare call for stricter regulations
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The owner of a daycare where 26 children were found hidden in an unlicensed basement -- sweaty and hungry, with dirty diapers -- was in court today.
Carla Faith was charged with child abuse and lying to a police officer after the November inspection where that disturbing discovery was made.
Faith was at the El Paso County Courthouse Wednesday morning for her first appearance, along with two of her employees who also face charges.
Meanwhile, parents are saying they want to try and prevent this situation from happening again. They say, right now, there’s too many loopholes for people like Carla to slip through the cracks and own daycares. They want to change that.
KRDO crews talked to the lawyer leading the lawsuit against Carla Faith, and learned more about what these parents want to get out of it.
Parents originally hoped their toddlers were only put in the basement of Play Mountain Place during inspections.
But attorney Jeffrey Weeks, who’s leading the lawsuit against Faith, says the patterns they’re seeing suggest otherwise.
“It appears as though they kept a large number of kids in the basement for years and no one knew about it the whole time,” Weeks said.
The children were found in that basement -- its entrance covered by a fake wall -- when DHS and police inspected based on a tip.
Weeks says there’s no evidence of physical or sexual abuse right now. He says the stories he’s heard from parents sound more like severe neglect.
“Pulling their fingernails out, scratching themselves to the point of bleeding,” he listed. “There was one girl, she was pulling all of her hair out. And there was a picture of her. She’s bald, after all of that anxiety.”
All of the children were under the age of three.
Sherry MacWilliam, who brought her son to Play Mountain Place for years, says Carla intentional moved the kids over to Counterpoint, and out of these conditions, when they learned how to talk. Counterpoint was a preschool owned by Carla that was also shutdown.
“That’s how she chose as her victims on purpose because they could not defend themselves,” MacWilliam said.
The heartbreak and loss of trust is causing parents to fight back, not just with the lawsuit. They want to try and make sure no one else gets away with this.
“The fact that Carla was able to move right from California and pick up where she left off 5 years later, here in Colorado. The states are not communicating,” MacWilliam explained.
Weeks says he’s gotten word about a new effort to create a nationwide database for daycare licensing.
But, that’s not the only change parents want to see.
“I think that DHS should be able to come and check at anytime without warning, and be able to access the property without permission if you’re running a daycare,” MacWilliam added.
Right now, 29 people have filed in the lawsuit against Carla Faith, Play Mountain Place and Counterpoint.The lawyers leading the lawsuit told KRDO they expect more parents to join in the near future.
Carla Faith, and her former employee Katelynn Nelson - who faces misdemeanor child abuse charges and drug charges - go back to court February 19.
Another former employee of Faith's, Christina Swaeger, goes back to court on February 12 for charges of misdemeanor child abuse and lying to a police officer.
Previous stories:
- Multiple arrests made after children found behind false wall in Colorado Springs daycare
- Daycare owner who hid children behind false wall is charged with child abuse
- State officials respond after parents ask how daycare owner slipped through cracks
- Teacher tells her side after preschool, daycare abruptly shut down
- Colorado Springs Police find dozens of children in basement behind false wall at daycare
