JAMESTOWN, N.D. (KFGO) – A daycare center in Jamestown has been closed after two employees were accused of hitting children and giving them melatonin to take naps.
Karen Schempp and Kaylee Cumber are each charged with two counts of felony child abuse or neglect. Investigators started looking into Buffalo City Lil’ Explorers Daycare after an 8-year-old was brought to the emergency room with a head contusion.
Schempp, the owner of the childcare facility, accused another daycare employee of causing the injury. She also said the incident happened in an area of the daycare that had surveillance cameras, but they were not working at the time.
The daycare employee was interviewed by investigators and denied injuring the child. She went on to describe questionable behavior by Schempp and Cumber observed while working at the daycare.
The employee told a detective she witnessed Schempp hit a child and lie to the parents claiming the child fell. She also claims Schempp deletes surveillance video prior to licensing inspections to cover up mistreatment, and gives the children melatonin after lunch so they sleep during naptime.
The daycare worker told investigators that Schempp and Cumber mistreat children by calling them derogatory names, rough handling, force feeding and leaving an infant in a room with no supervision.
Officials visited the daycare on April 25 to conduct a licensing inspection and a 6-year-old told a detective that they get ‘treats’ after lunch and pointed to a bottle in the bathroom. Court records say the bottle was Vicks ZzzQuil Pure Zzz’s 1mg melatonin gummies. Another bottle of TopCare children’s chewable 1mg melatonin tablets was hidden in the kitchen.
When interviewed by investigators, Schempp admits to hitting her own child, but says she does not hit the other children. She denied giving melatonin to the children and denied deleting surveillance video.
Cumber was interviewed at the daycare and admitted she will ‘sometimes have to be rough’ at seating the children, but denies other rough handling. She also denied force feeding the children.
Investigators obtained surveillance footage and noted several concerning things such as children being left alone, incidents of Schempp and Cumber on their phones and not paying attention to the children, and becoming mad at children for not eating.
Court records say surveillance video shows incidents of children being slapped and food forcefully being removed from a child’s mouth.
A Daycare Licensing Specialist with North Dakota Health and Human Services submitted license revocation paperwork and Schempp voluntarily surrendered the daycare license.
Buffalo City Lil’ Explorers Daycare was effectively shut down on April 25 and all children were picked up by parents. In the following days, parents told investigators they wanted to file criminal charges against Schempp and Cumber.
Court records say Schempp and Cumber will be placed on the Child Abuse and Neglect Index for 3 years. Formal charges were filed in Stutsman County on Nov. 10. They are both scheduled for their initial court appearance on Dec. 3.
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