By Ginnie Graham
Tulsa World
November 11, 2010
http://www.tulsaworld.com/webextra/content/2010/crimesite/article.aspx?subjectid=450&articleid=20101111_11_A13_CUTLIN838702
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| Child-care worker Meredith Allison Howard: She was arrested and charged Tuesday with two felony counts of child abuse. |
A woman who is accused of abusing two children at separate child-care programs received a passing criminal background check and reference from a previous employer despite a previous police investigation into possible abuse.
The Department of Human Services' child-care licensing division reportedly was unaware of the previous allegation against Meredith Allison Howard, 38.
Howard was arrested and charged Tuesday with two felony counts of child abuse. She is accused of sexually assaulting a 19-month-old girl at John Knox Child Care Center on Nov. 4 and of a December 2008 assault that led to a broken leg for an 8-month-old boy at Kirk of the Hills Presbyterian's Mother's Day Out program.
She was released from the Tulsa Jail about 8 p.m. Wednesday after $100,000 bond was posted, jail records show.
Howard claims that the incident at the John Knox center, operated by John Knox Presbyterian Church, was an accident, caused when a knuckle of her ring finger slipped into the child's vagina during a diaper change when she was alone with the child. But a pediatrician said the injuries were "likely inflicted trauma and consistent with child sexual abuse," according to a police affidavit.
Nearly two years ago, Howard was accused of using unreasonable force when she broke the thigh bone of an infant in a child-care program associated with Kirk of the Hills Presbyterian, records show.
After Howard became frustrated with the boy for being fussy, she "sat him down hard," the affidavit states. She later admitted that she thought she had broken his leg, records state, but she did not seek treatment for the boy. He was treated at a hospital later for a spiral fracture of the left femur, the affidavit states.
Tulsa Police Officer Jason Willingham said an investigation into the Kirk of the Hills injury was sent to the District Attorney's Office. In a written statement, Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris said an assistant prosecutor decided in March 2009 against charging Howard.
"Hindsight is always 20/20, but we should have approved criminal charges at that time," Harris said. "Our present legal status prohibits us from publicly discussing evidence in either of the cases so as not to compromise our prosecution efforts or the due-process rights of the defendant. We will be prepared to go forward with the evidence at the appropriate time."
Kirk of the Hills spokeswoman Emily Barteo would not comment, and the church's attorney could not be reached for comment.
In a letter sent to parents by the John Knox Child Care Center, administrators say they are doubling personnel in all rooms, are considering video monitoring, and are in compliance with the state law requiring background checks by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
"These actions were carried out fully with regard to the teacher under investigation," the letter states. "The background check we received came back clean," and references Howard provided "reported no prior history of abuse or allegations thereof."
A meeting of parents with a DHS representative and center administrators is set for Thursday night.
Kirk of the Hills' Mother's Day Out program was not licensed by the state because it falls outside the parameters for such oversight.
A license is required for partial-day programs - those that care for and supervise children at least 15 hours but fewer than 30 hours a week, DHS spokeswoman Sheree Powell said. The Kirk of the Hills program runs about three hours a day one or two days a week, according to the church's website.
Because the program was not licensed, DHS has no documentation on the December 2008 incident, Powell said.
In July, DHS launched the Child Care Restricted Registry, called Joshua's List after Joshua Minton, a 2-year-old Sperry child who was killed by his child-care provider.
The registry will list anyone restricted from working in child-care facilities for the following reasons: conviction for certain crimes against children; a substantiated finding of abuse or neglect of a child in a child-care facility after July 1, 2010; or a child-care license revoked or denied after July 1, 2010.
If DHS had known about the 2008 abuse allegation against Howard, based on the legal criteria, she still would not have been placed on the registry.
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