Officer Hears Something from the Basement of Day Care, What Was Found Behind a False Wall Lands Operator in Prison
A Colorado woman who left parents saying they were betrayed over what they thought was the perfect day care center was sentenced last week to six years in prison for a deception that came crashing down around her when the truth came out.
Carla Faith of Colorado Springs was licensed to care for six children at the day care center she ran out of her home, according to Fox News.
But then came the day in 2019 when police were called.
A report from Colorado Springs police put it tersely at the time.
“When officers arrived, no kids were located at the licensed facility. Officers then attempted to contact the owner of Play Mountain Place at her residence, which is located on the same property as the daycare facility,” a police statement said, noting that Faith refused to cooperate.
“[H]owever, officers could hear the noises of children coming from her home. During their investigation, officers found a false wall that led to the home’s basement. When officers walked down the stairs, they located two adults and 26 kids inside a finished basement, all of who were under the age of three-years-old.”
BREAKING: Former day care owner Carla Faith was sentenced to six years of prison on child abuse charges. Authorities found children behind a false wall in the basement of Faith’s day care in late 2019.
— KOAA News5 (@KOAA) October 21, 2021
An arrest affidavit said many children had soiled or wet diapers and were sweaty and thirsty when they were found.
“I am completely betrayed,” parent Jeanete Conde said after Faith’s arrest, according to KCNC. “Every parent I have talked to about this, we all feel completely betrayed. It’s so hard to trust your children with people and we felt like we could really trust them.”
At Faith’s sentencing Thursday, parent Kim Marshall said her children are still undergoing counseling for what they experienced, according to The Associated Press.
“We sleep with the lights on in our house,” she said. “My kids are anxious. They are fearful of the world.”
Faith was sentenced for attempting to influence a public servant and child abuse, according to KKTV-TV.
District Attorney Michael Allen said the conviction against Faith was “justice.”
“And justice on behalf of every single one of these parents that we have behind me today, parents that had to live through something that they never would’ve imagined. Having the kids locked in the basement at a place that they were taking their kids to for care. Some place they trusted and felt like they were getting the care that they were expecting to achieve,” he told KKTV.
During her sentencing, a video was played of the impacts of the case on the children Faith hid behind a wall, according to KOAA-TV.
One parent in the video said that as her daughter spoke about Faith, “she became more aggressive, she was hitting… pulling hair.”
Also interviewed was Dr. Steven Berkowitz, a professor in child psychiatry, who said that “these kinds of experiences that these children had at this day care can have long term impacts.”
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