• Violation

  R 400.1911 · R 400.1911 Care; supervision; children. (1) A licensee shall ensure appropriate care and supervision of children at all times.

  On 02/06/2023, 1 received a call from Trooper Ruffer. He is requesting that I move forward with the investigation and update him as I investigate. On 02/07/2023, I interviewed the complainant. On 02/07/2023, I interviewed Child A's Mother. Child A has been attending the child care since October 2022. Child A has been acting different, having violent nightmares, and she screams when someone tries to change her diaper or bathe her. Child A told her aunt that someone is giving her "ouchies" in her private parts at the child care. She asked Child A questions about the "ouchies", but she has not been able to obtain clear responses. Child A disclosed to her that someone hurt her in the vaginal area during a diaper change. Child A identified a person named Hanna and Rachel as changing her diaper. She inquired about diaper changes to Mrs. Erickson, but Mrs. Erickson denied her biological children's diapers at the child care. Mrs. Erickson clarified that her biological children would hand her stuff while she is changing child care children's diaper. A physical exam was conducted by at with Child A on 02/03/2023. The doctor did not see anything during the exam which could explain pain in the vaginal area. Child A's Mother denied Child A having any known allergies, medical conditions, or speech delays. Child A is no longer attending child care at Mrs. Ericksons as of 02/01/2023. Child A's aunt and both grandmothers also provide care to Child A. On 02/08/2023, I conducted an unannounced visit to Katrina Erickson's to interview Mrs. Erickson and child care staff member Paul Erickson from 3:09 PM to 03:55 PM. Upon arrival, I observed Minor Household Member (MHM) 3, holding an infant with the infant holding a bottle filled with milk. The infant was not actively feeding and was only holding the bottle. MHM 1 and MHM 2 were present and standing by the diapering changing station. I inquired about child and staff attendance. Mrs. Erickson did not have attendance records for staff or an absentee log. I obtained photos of Child A's attendance records and reviewed other child attendance records. Currently, Mrs. Erickson has her husband, Paul Erickson, and Deb Grose as child care staff members. She reported that Mr. Erickson has only worked at the child care for an hour or two on a couple of days over the last few months, specifically when she has medical appointments. She reported that she has not had a medical appointment since before December 2022. Ms. Grose has not worked at the child care in months. She has questioned whether to take Ms. Grose off her license as a child care staff member because Ms. Grose has obtained full time employment at a 4 bank. I asked Mrs. Erickson to have her children leave the room so we could discuss the investigation. Mrs. Erickson stated, "I assuming you are here about Child A." I asked her to explain this statement. Mrs. Erickson showed me a text message from Child A's Mother on 02/03/2023 at 3:39 PM asking her, "Does anyone named Hanna work for you? Or play with Ave?" Mrs. Erickson responded by writing, "Nope." Child A's Mother responded back with, "Okay thank you. Something is going on with Child A and I'm trying to figure out what and where. She's been having some difficulties." Mrs. Erickson stated, "Right now it's the same group of kids and just me watching her." Child A's Mother stated, "Ok thank you." I took a photo of the messages between Mrs. Erickson and Child A's Mother. After having this correspondence with Child A's Mother, Mrs. Erickson had received a call from Child A's aunt. She could not provide the name of the aunt, but this woman demanded to provide the names of all the staff members working for her at the child care. She found this phone call peculiar. I went over the allegations with Mrs. Erickson. Mrs. Erickson does not have any enrolled children named Hanna and she does not know anyone named Hanna who comes to her home. She confirmed that MHM3 does help her with the children at the child car

Child A (two-year-old, female) disclosed someone at the child care is hurting her private parts and there are concerns that someone at the child care is abusing Child A. There are also concerns that Mrs. Erickson's biological child changed Child A's diaper.

Disposition: Substantiated