Filed under: News
The Homewood day care facility was shut down by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare after the owner, Reanell Booker, was arrested for selling drugs on Friday.
In addition to sex toys and pornography littering the children's play area, $6,000 worth of crack cocaine, and $4,000 cash was discovered inside the day care, according to investigators who conducted the raid.
"I just think it's crazy. I don't know where I'm going to send my kids now. It was convenient for me," said the mother of two children who attending the day care. She discovered the day care was shut down when she came to drop off her children.
Leigh Stubblefield, who owns a nearby day care, passed out flyers to the parents of the 10-15 children who attended R&B Childcare.
"It tarnishes our name. I don't want people to think that every day care is like this because it's not. There are some of us who truly care about the children," said Stubblefield.
Booker is licensed by the state to run the day care, and she has no prior arrest record. Now she faces drug charges, and potentially child endangerment charges.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time that cocaine has been found in a day care.
In 2009, 301 grams of cocaine and two guns were discovered in a North Carolina day care. At the time, police said a two year old toddler, and a thirteen month old baby, were present. Agostina Mabel Pomiro, mother of the baby, was charged with cocaine possession and trafficking, intent to sell, maintaining a dwelling for the sale or delivery of controlled substances, misdemeanor child abuse and possessing a controlled substance on a day care property.
In the 1980s and early 90s, day care sexual abuse hysteria was a widespread phenomenon originating in a bizarre case of sadistic sexual abuse in Kern County, California. There are some who still remember those times and continue to view day cares with suspicion.
As evidenced by this case, they have every right to remain suspicious. Judges have traditionally sided with day care providers in abuse cases, contending that young children are easily persuaded to claim things happened that never did, or that their memories had been manipulated.
Hopefully, the children from R&B Childcare Services receive a full psychological evaluation and are questioned thoroughly about the activities in the day care. The presence of sex toys and pornography in a children's play area should immediately lead to an investigation of child molestation.
Whether Ms. Booker was in fact the owner of the drugs and sex paraphernalia is not my concern. Those children were placed in her care, and she should be punished to the fullest extent of the law for not protecting them from adult activity better suited for a strip club or a back alley.
Parents need to check the background of all people who come in contact with their children, directly or indirectly in a day care setting. All citizens have access to their state's Sex Offender Registry, and we should utilize it. When possible, use your lunch breaks to pay your children, and their teachers, a surprise visit.
More importantly, parents, trust your instincts. Our children are our most precious treasures, and nothing is too much when it comes to keeping them safe.
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Source: http://www.bvblackspin.com/2011/03/02/sex-toys-pornography-and-drugs-found-in-pennsylvania-day-care/
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