Caleb Stewart's Case After Eighteen Months

How long does Kansas take to investigate a complaint about a daycare? How many reports of abuse, injury, or untimely death do they need in order to justify the expenses involved in gathering information and making a quality decision about who gets a license to operate a daycare, and who does not? According to the latest information, brought to us by WIBW, the death of a child will bring an investigation and a decision in about a year and a half. That's how long it took Child Protective Services in Kansas to substantiate the charges, concerning a wrongful death, finally brought against Tara Johnson, the home daycare provider; and Destiny McClusky, a random friend of Tara's who had no real business in Tara's workplace.

In February of 2013, five month old Caleb Stewart was dropped off at daycare by his mom, Misty Durham. Later that day, he died. Tara Johnson was not on the premises, which she should have been, and her boyfriend, Russel Morris and the aforementioned friend, Destiny McClusky, were watching the children. Anywhere besides Kansas, this would lead to charges and a lawsuit. As is stands, Johnson, Morris, and McClusky probably do not have the assets to settle a lawsuit for wrongful death, and since Kansas was allowing this daycare to operate without a license and failing to substantiate the complaints that led to the situation that cost Caleb his life, Johnson's daycare was not covered by insurance, either. But then, about ninety-five percent of public schools in Kansas did not have insurance when school started in 2013, either.

Chad Taylor, the prosecutor in Topeka, Kansas, has declined to press any charges at all in this case. He presses charges when the children of richer, better connected parents die in daycares, but not Caleb Stewart's death. Taylor even retaliated against Misty Durham by having her arrested for an old traffic violation when she called his office to ask about the status of the case! Does he think that forcing different social classes to exist in Kansas and denying justice to people he simply doesn't like are going to get him elected again? And is child protective services in Kansas really attempting to protect children? Or do they only respond when they find children who are alive and marketable, and whose parents don't know their rights and cannot afford legal representation?  How many other children have been in harm's way during the eighteen months it took them to glance at Caleb Stewart's case?

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.