Sentenced: CT Day Care Worker Threw Child 6 Feet Into Wall

[Sugar Cookie]

A former day care worker accused of abusing children in 2023 and 2024 will serve the next two years behind bars after pleading guilty to one felony and three misdemeanor charges.

Kristie Ann Kovarcik, 49, was sentenced to eight years in prison, suspended after two years, followed by five years of probation for risk of injury to a child and reckless endangerment.

The charges against Kovarcik stem from an investigation into a January 2024 report of child abuse at her now-former place of employment, the Town & Country Early Learning Center in Middletown. Police said the report was made by a guardian of one of the children at the day care center.

Middletown Police Detective Jimmy Lacasse said the center’s director told investigators she heard an “elevated voice” coming from what she believed to be Kovarcik’s classroom the morning of Jan. 12, 2024, and immediately pulled up the video feed from a camera in the room.

The director told police she saw Kovarcik standing by while children were “wrestling” — which she said is not allowed — and then pick the victim up by the back of her shirt and throw her off to the side, documents show.

Lacasse reported that he viewed the video and saw the girl fall to the floor after which Kovarcik picked her up with both hands by the back of her shirt and threw her about 6 feet. Lacasse said the girl’s head hit the wall.

With her guardian’s permission, Lacasse said he examined the victim and saw “a red linear mark above the victim’s right eyebrow,” but no other marks.

He said the victim was later examined at Middlesex Hospital and that medical records showed she sustained a contusion, or bruise, to her right eyebrow. That incident was the basis for the felony count of risk of injury to a child that Kovarcik pleaded guilty to, court records show.

Lacasse quoted Kovarcik as saying that, as a fast reaction, she grabbed the victim and quickly moved her out of the way, causing her head to hit the wall. She claimed that it was not intentional, admitted to losing her cool and expressed remorse, according to police.

After seeing additional incidents on videos from other days, Lacasse said police obtained a search warrant and about three months of videos from Kovarcik’s classroom.

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https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/middletown-kristie-ann-kovarcik-day-ca

 

[BuffettGirl]

"Why I just didn't know my own strength, I swear!"