Trial reset for Colorado Springs daycare owner accused of hiding children in basement
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The woman accused of hiding dozens of children behind a false wall in a basement of a Colorado Springs daycare will have a few more months before a jury is set to hear the details of her alleged child abuse.
Carla Faith has 30 active charges against her for child abuse, running a child care facility without a license, and attempting to influence a public servant. She had a trial set to begin Monday, but it was vacated and reset "as a result of a public health pandemic."
Faith is facing those charges after investigators found 26 children hidden behind a panel leading to the basement of Faith's home. She had been running a daycare called Play Mountain Place, but the Department of Human Services conducted a welfare check after getting a complaint that there were more children than the daycare's license allowed.
A CSPD officer went to the home in November 2019 and didn't find any children at first. After searching through the main house, police heard noises of children's music and noticed that there was a basement-level window. The officer asked Faith how to access the basement, but Faith said the home didn't have one. The officers searched around and one bumped into a wall, feeling it move. That's when they found the false wall that led to a finished basement downstairs.
Once downstairs, the officers found two adults and 26 kids. All of the children were released back to their parents.
According to an arrest affidavit, Faith's daycare license was only good to care for up to six children between the ages of zero and 13 at any one time, meaning that her facility was over four times the legal capacity. Additionally, she was only allowed to care for two children under the age of two at any one time.
A CSPD officer observed that many of the children "had soiled or wet diapers, were sweating, and were very thirsty upon contact," according to the affidavit.
According to the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office, Faith's new jury trial has been set for 9 a.m. Sept. 13.
