TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. -- A day care provider was sentenced Wednesday to six months in jail following the death of a 1-year old girl in her care.
A Tippecanoe County judge handed down the sentence to Debra Keyes following her guilty plea to two criminal charges-- reckless supervision by a child care provider and operating a child care home without a license.
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Keyes will also have to serve one year of supervised probation, as well as attend counseling and not watch children for money during her term of probation.
She must report to the Tippecanoe County Jail by Friday at 8 a.m. to start serving her sentence.
Mazie Valenta, 13 months, died on April 25, 2016, after she strangled to death when her shirt got caught on a broken piece of the crib. Prosecutors and Mazie’s mother Stephanie alleged Keyes knew the crib was broken but used it anyway.
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Keyes had faced up to three years in prison. She was operating a day care illegally when Mazie died, records show.
Call 6 Investigates found Keyes still watching children in her home after Mazie’s death. However, the Indiana Family Social Services Administration said she was operating legally.
If a child care provider cares for fewer than six children unrelated to the provider, they do not need a license, according to FSSA.
Keyes and her attorney have not responded to requests for comment from RTV6.
HOW TO CHECK A CHILD CARE FACILITY
• Plug in a provider's name to ChildCareFinder.IN.govand look for complaints, inspection reports, and any pending enforcement
• Use your eyes and ears when visiting. Are they following safe sleep? Is equipment working? Are children strapped into their high chairs?
• Drop by the child's day care unexpectedly during the day. What is seen at pickup and drop off may be very different than what's happening during the middle of the day
• Ask to see the provider's license or registration, which should be posted in a public area. If the provider is on probation, it will say so on the license, along with the reasons why.
• Ask to see a copy of the day care's discipline policy. Corporal punishment is not illegal in the state of Indiana
• Ask what their current child-to-staff ratio is. Experts say accidents are more likely to happen when staffers are watching a lot of children.
• Ask if the provider is part of the state's voluntary rating system, called Paths to Quality. The state said this helps guarantee they're meeting and/or exceeding licensing requirements regardless of type of day care
• If you use an unlicensed facility, know they do not have to submit to background checks, CPR training, safe sleep training and other requirements. Ask to see proof your provider has completed these.
For more information, go to ChildCareIndiana.org
