In-Home Daycare Worker in Trempealeau County Accused of Child Abuse Appears in Court

Thursday, June 5th, 2025 -- 12:01 PM

(WEAU Staff, WEAU) An in-home daycare worker in Trempealeau County accused of child abuse is bound over for trial.

According to WEAU staff, online court records show 40-year-old Ashley Hove of Eleva, Wis. is bound over for trial and a Status Conference is scheduled for July 24, 2025.

A $200,000 cash bond continues. Hove is charged with physical abuse of child - intentionally cause great bodily harm. According to the criminal complaint, on April 8, 2025, authorities responded to a home on North Main Street in the Village of Eleva to follow up on an emergency medical services call at the home earlier in the day.

A deputy was informed that Mayo Hospital in Rochester, Minn. had contacted the Trempealeau County Sheriff’s Department to gather information about a one-year-old child who had been brought to their facility via helicopter for a “brain bleed.”

The deputy was informed the child suffered the injury at an in-home daycare operated by Ashley Hove in the Village of Eleva. Hove told the deputy that she provided daycare services for two minor children in addition to her own two minor children.

Hove also told the deputy she did not know the last name of the children in her care, and did not know the last name of the children’s parents. Hove told the deputy that the one-year-old victim, the victim’s sibling, and Hove’s two children were playing in the playroom of the home.

Hove said she left the children unattended for 5-10 minutes to use the restroom. Hove said that when she returned to the playroom, she saw the victim lying on the floor.

Hove told the deputy that when she picked up the victim, the victim went limp, and she could feel a “bump” on the back of the victim’s head. Hove told the deputy that she believed the victim was walking in his socks, slipped and fell.

The victim’s mother said that she had recently saw unusual bruising on the victim when the victim returned from daycare with Hove, as well as the victim’s sibling.

The mother said her children had been in Hove’s care since August of 2024. According to the criminal complaint, a doctor concluded that victim’s bruising is most consistent with child physical abuse on more than one occasion.

On April 10, 2025, a deputy went back to Hove’s home in the Village of Eleva to give an explanation of events. Hove told the deputy that she “did it twice” and was “sorry afterward.”

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