Washington County is suing a Cottage Grove woman for allegedly operating an unlicensed day care in her home while drunk and is seeking to prevent her from providing child care to any children other than her own in the future.
The civil suit is the first of its kind filed in Minnesota, according to Richard Hodsdon of the Washington County attorney’s office.
The defendant, Megan Martin, was criminally charged with child neglect and running an unlicensed day care on April 23.
Hodsdon said criminal court punishes a crime that has been committed in the past. The civil suit is intended to prevent future crimes by pursuing a court order to find Martin in contempt of court should she ever provide child care to children other than her own or advertise to provide child care.
(The Minnesota Department of) “Human Services said they had not pursued this as a remedy before,” Hodsdon said.
He hopes success in this case could set a precedent for future cases and give the courts another tool to combat unlicensed child care.
Acting on a report that Martin was providing unlicensed child care in her home, Cottage Grove police executed a search warrant of the residence in February and found 12 small children in her care. A preliminary breath test showed her blood-alcohol content at 0.12.
During the search, police found three children in a dark room still strapped into their car seats with blankets draped over them. Police discovered at least 17 different licensing violations Martin could have been cited for if she had a license.
According to the county attorney’s office, Martin admitted to providing child care for five years and that she had actively avoided obtaining a license.
Parents of the children were contacted immediately and they removed their children from the home.
“There are hundreds of competent, caring licensed child care providers,” County Attorney Pete Orput said in a statement. “It is abhorrent there are those who choose to ignore the laws intended to protect our children.”
He encouraged parents to use public resources to find out if a child care provider is licensed by going to the state Department of Human Services website.
Martin is scheduled to appear in court Friday, when the attorney’s office will ask the court to make the current temporary restraining order permanent.