Siriunsun

My photo
In An Age Of Universal Deceit, Telling The Truth Is A Revolutionary Act.......George Orwell

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Kansas Allowed Daycare To Kill A Baby

On February 27, five month old Caleb Stewart, of Scranton, Kansas, died at the home of his daycare provider, Tara Johnson. He died, somehow, while sleeping on a dog bed on the floor, but an actual cause of death has not been established by the coroner. Many complaints had already been filed against Tara Johnson with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and Child Protective Services. The complaints ranged from dirty surroundings to lack of supervision of children and Tara's boyfriend (not an employee of the daycare or a licensed childcare provider) caring for the children while Tara shopped and ran other errands. Caleb's mother, Misty Durham, has been met with evasive answers and denials from everyone involved, from those at the home where her son died to Chad Taylor, the District Attorney, to whom the case has been assigned.


This seems to be the practice in Kansas inasmuch as regulating daycares, schools, and other institutions that have contact with children. There's a daycare in Frankfort, Kansas where the spouse of the proprietress cares for the children on a semi-regular basis, although he is not licensed to do so. Their adult children also consume alcohol and other drugs while the children are present. There's another daycare in the same town which allows it's charges to run about, unsupervised, between the pool and the library. Not only are these indiscretions an invitation to liability; they create a tragedy waiting to happen, yet nothing is done. Frankfort High continues to employ a guidance counselor who abandoned a female high school freshman alongside the highway four miles away from the school, all by herself, and when she got lost, he told no one. He looked for her a little bit by himself, but when it was time for him to go home, he went home for the day, not even bothering to tell the student's parents or make a police report. Child Protective Services have actually removed children from the homes of parents who treat their children that way, yet a teacher who does the same thing is allowed to continue. Is this because it is less dangerous for a child to get lost, wandering around four miles away from town, after being abandoned by a school employee, rather than a parent? Or is it because the only action Child Protective Services could take in a situation such as that would be to insure that the school employee is fired, with no removal of the child, and therefore no money to be made via an ongoing case or a questionable adoption pending the termination of parental rights? It seems, also, that the same possibility exists in the case of the daycare: a caucasion  baby who could be taken from his parents and put up for adoption, or sold to the highest bidder after parental rights had been terminated would be a prime target for Child Protective Services, but since most judges will not go along with removals of children from the homes of the parents over bad choices of daycares or schools, Child Protective Services ignores violations and crimes of daycare providers and teachers, focusing instead upon individual parents who make easier targets. Grim.


Sadly, Caleb's case did not get much attention from the media. The most complete information about it seems to be a piece from WIBW, written in May of this year. Caleb's case has gotten even less attention from law enforcement and the District Attorney, and now, almost eight months later, there have been no arrests, and Tara Johnson is still caring for children in her home! Apparently, no one who was in the home at the time of Caleb's death has agreed to a polygraph, and when concerned voters and taxpayers in Northeast Kansas call law enforcement and the District Attorney with questions about this case, both agencies respond by hanging up! What an amazing message to send to voters! The lead investigator in this case is Erin Thompson, who can be reached at 785-368-2242; and the district Attorney, Chad Taylor, can be reached at 785-233-8200.
 
 

20 comments:

Unknown said...

Get your story straight. Caleb died at Stormont Vail 2 hours after leaving the daycare... everything that could be done for him was.. Misty has lied speculated and mislead everyone for her own personal gain... I prayed for the Steve wilkos show to give them the closer they deserve.. the closer I offered two days after the tragedy .. it was a very traumatic experience for all involved .. I had never done CPR on a baby but without a thought I did everything the 911 operator told me to do wherefore he was breathing when paramedics arrived almost twenty minutes after the call was placed ... lies lies lies will never be truth and TRUTH WILL ALWAYS PREVAIL.. so get your story right before u speculate on the behalf of a known meth user with dollar symbols and glory in her eyes ...

Unknown said...

But I guess truth holds no ground on this page either

Juli Henry said...

Ya know; addictive illness in the past of someone involved really has nothing to do with how or why Caleb died. What was your point in bringing that up here? Deflection? How much of that was done while giving statements to the police?

How could the Steve Wilkos show possibly give the family the closure that a proper investigation and accountability of the daycare provider is meant to provide? Are you saying that the privilege of accountability is only for some people, but not for all? Are you saying that Misty does not deserve it? A civil lawsuit is not dependent upon proof of criminal intent, only of negligence, and there are several similar cases in the nation right now, involving daycares, schools, and noncustodial caretakers that have been re-opened, thanks to heightened media coverage.

If you have a problem with this page, go somewhere else. I merely published that the baby began to crash at daycare, and that the babysitter had not been held accountable. Your suggestion that Caleb does not deserve justice because his mother has used drugs in the past is downright offensive. Unless you were WITH her while she got high, how the hell would you know about it, anyway?

Juli Henry said...

Are you the guy in the red shirt in the still shot above? If so, you should really take a look at yourself. You are obviously trying to intimidate others. Why?

Unknown said...

You openly state that he died at the day care ... read your message over again ... what more could the daycare provider have done?? Everything was done within humanly power I.E why he died at Stormont Vail (hospital) not "at the home of the daycare provider" as you clearly state.. intimidation of who ?? Misty ?? She has made it so that I can't even feel safe going to the store for fear that harm may come to m

Unknown said...

My children and or myself because of the lies you and her as well as others spread... feed the beast and soon the monster will show its face .. understand a lie is a lie no matter how you twist it .. when a baby dies of SIDs whos at blame?? It was tragic but the only thing done wrong is the lies that are spread by people who have opinions after knowing one side of a story ... please understand all I want is for Misty to find peace and for Caleb to R.I.P for them as well as for my own soul ...

Juli Henry said...

Forgive me. (eye-rolley, here) He began to crash and desperately needed medical care while at the babysitter's house. He died of whatever happened to him while at the hospital. What more could the daycare provider have done? Lets see......she could have been licensed and never out of compliance with state or national law, 100% of the time. She could have had a all children in the approved areas of her home for daycare, NOT locked in bedrooms, so they could not see other "activities" going on in the home and become potential witnesses. (that's a big reason why I think this case was not investigated very well) She could have either watched the children she was babysitting, or hired qualified help. She could have told her boyfriend to come visit AFTER she was finished working. There's a case in Virginia going on right now involving a baby who died in a hospital in Northern Virginia. While he died in the hospital, the cause of death had to do with something that happened to him in his non-custodial father's house. It took about a year, but Mr. Non-Custodial father is now in jail awaiting trial for first degree murder. If I recall correctly, the mom in that situation had to wait about a year for the autopsy results, too; so Misty will still, hopefully, know what happened to her child one day.

Juli Henry said...

SIDS was ruled out. Was there another tragic loss in your life that same week?

What beast? The Truth? And yes.....I can see clearly that you want Misty to find peace. If she finds peace, she'll shut up about all this, and it will get swept under the rug and go away faster and more quietly. For reasons you have not clearly conveyed, this is obviously what you want. with sobriety comes care and responsibility for one's children, and Misty is not going to be an exception. No one is going to harm you. How long has it been since this happened?

Anonymous said...

Why the hell was in infant sleeping in a dog bed?

Juli Henry said...

That's what quite a few of us would like to know. Yet....no answers.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like good old Russell should do a little more explaining, and a little less trying to intimidate a grieving mother.

Anonymous said...

If Rusell and Tara could just admit that they were wrong for the way they were living their lives and conducting their daycare, things would be a whole lot better. Russell is merely picking at the truth, trying to discredit it. He is not saying he is wrong for anything. But that's the sad truth about this world: everyone is selfish and no one takes responsibility for their actions.

Juli Henry said...

I understand you, but I think Russell may be doing more than just picking t the truth. I think he's stomping on it. I also dare to hope that not everyone is inherently selfish, and that a few people may exist who take responsibility for their actions.

Anonymous said...

This is shameful...unfortunately any idiot can run a daycare. There are a lot of stay-at-home mothers in my area that run them as well, and I wonder how a few of them ever passed inspection. This woman should at the very least be charged with neglect, for leaving the baby with someone who wasn't licensed. These people appear to be pretty rough, unfortunately the mother of this baby did not realize that. Incredible that they have not been charged with something. And the fact that they are defensive and angry shows they should not be around children at all. If somehow my name had been associated with the death of a child, I would be completely devastated and extremely apologetic - the guilt would kill me. But then, I am a much kinder human being than this woman.

Unknown said...

Thank you all I've tried so hard to get criminal charges filed SRS substantiated physical neglect medical neglect and lack of supervision but the d.a refuses to press any charges this is crazy at this point I've turned it over to god but I'm not quite done reaching out yet

Juli Henry said...

I wish there was a way you could file a wrongful death suit. It would be fought in civil court, not criminal, but it would still send a message that the whole situation was wrong.

Anonymous said...

that is my lil brother russel and i dont know if its just me or u just are trying to cover up what you have done you say he didnt feel well, but he was as happy as can be that morning so we have witnesses telling you that we have gotten one of your lies and the more you fight this the more come out you should really be in jail/prison for this what would you have done is this happened to your son or brother . . . exactly so dont be telling my mom that she is dragging him through hell because you are!!

Anonymous said...

hey Russel you might wanna get your story straight because ours is. i am Caleb's sister remember how Tara ran out of Walmart because she saw my mom? there is a lot more crazy in this family than you think and you say you cant go anywhere without getting called a murderer. your not helping your reputation by posting these lies. so you should really stop I'm trying to help you . . . this time. stop saying it is my moms fault because it is your and Tara's. y was he in the dog bed anyways. neither of you aren't smart but whosoever idea it was to put him in that dog bed is even more dumb. BTW none of this was ever for the money it was to show people that this is wrong and we hope this never happens to anyone else! you made it so we can't have glory in our eyes we can barely ever get happiness more or less a smile! when you say THE TRUTH WILL ALWAYS PREVAIL you are completely right and it WILL!

Anonymous said...

listen russel if you wanna have something good to look at in this by my little brother dying because of you he saved 13 other kids in your home!

Unknown said...

I can not believe how badly the system has failed this poor baby and his family. Seeing the guilty parties try to blame the mourning mother is just disgusting. They should be on trial for manslaughter, neglect... and so on. They were more worried about getting in trouble for having an unqualified person watching the kids and not getting found out... that’s why the person didn’t call 911 right away... they didn’t want the record to show that she wasn’t there like she should be with children in her care. So at a time of emergency when every second counts they decided to wait to call 911 until they got ahold of Tara so she could be home when the emergency crew arrived is how it looks from the info presented. It’s so disgusting. They were more concerned with getting in trouble and losing a little money than with saving that child’s life. Very sad. The people investigating should be known/charged for the dereliction of duty in this case as well. You shouldn’t have to be wealthy to get justice and the mother being an ex drug user has nothing to do with what happened when Tara and her guy decided something was more important than those children, and they decided to leave them in the care of a person who had no business keeping them. And they lied to the state and weren’t even licensed like they were supposed to be and thought to be. These people should do time... end of story. The state of KS needs to give this mother closure and do their jobs taking idiots like this out of society so it’s safer. The world is watching Kansas... do better!