Former Abbotsford Day Care Owner and Family Charged for Keeping Children in Horrific Conditions
Friday, December 13th, 2019 -- 12:59 PM
-A former Abbotsford day care owner, and two members of her family, have all been charged after authorities discovered the children were being watched in horrific conditions.Back in Mach, an officer with the Abby-Colby Police Department performed a welfare check on the home of Naomi and Gary Konieczny, along with their adult daughter Rachel. The family was running a day care out of their home in Abbotsford and was not licensed. Under state law, you’re allowed to watch up to three children without a license, but if you have anymore, you need to be licensed by the state. Authorities received reports that Konieczny was watching up to 25 kids at one time, wasn’t providing the children with food and not changing their diapers. She has had issues in the past regarding the number of children she’s allowed to watch and has been investigated by the Clark County Social Services Department and Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. During their visit at the end of March, authorities did note that Konieczny had six kids at that time, but the initial check found nothing out of the ordinary. However, the information was forwarded to social services. Authorities and social services returned for an unannounced visit on April 3rd, and according to a parent of a child at the day care, who wished to remain anonymous, officers did discover children trapped in playpens and cribs with plywood and locked in rooms.
The parent was told that her child was discovered locked in a room with six other children. Another child wasn’t discovered until the second walk through and they found the child in a crib with plywood over the top and junk piled on top of and around the crib. According to a source familiar with the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the home was deplorable with so much junk in rooms you couldn’t walk. There were nuts, bolts, change, pills and medication scattered around and within the reach of children. There were nails sticking out of the plywood covering the cribs and into the cribs where the children were. Children were trapped all day in cribs, car seats and high chairs with nothing to keep them occupied. Some were tied to chairs. Konieczny also allegedly made verbal threats to the children telling them they were going to cut off fingers or throw them down the stairs. There were also reports of children pushed to the floor, dragged across the floor and heads banged in the corner for time-outs. Some of the older children at the day care, allegedly, tried to record some of the behavior on their phones.
After the police made the discovery on the 3rd, parents were called and told to immediately come and pick up their children. A biological granddaughter of Konieczny was also, allegedly, removed from the home. When authorities and social services initially questioned Konieczny, she admitted to some of the behavior. However, a source says she later denied everything. Naomi, the owner of the day care, is facing over 25 charges, the majority being felonies, including neglecting a child, causing mental harm to a child, recklessly endangering safety and more. Rachel, the adult daughter who helped with the day care, is facing 20 charges, all of them felonies, including neglecting a child and many more. Gary, the husband, is facing one felony charge of 2nd degree recklessly endangering safety. They are all scheduled to appear in Clark County Court on January 10th. The three of them could face charges in other counties as well as they watched children from other counties.
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