'Justice isn't served': Oak Creek KinderCare employee sentenced after toddler tests positive for cocaine
OAK CREEK, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The 24-year-old day care employee in Oak Creek charged with drug possession after a toddler tested positive for cocaine in May, pled guilty Monday morning during a sentencing hearing at the Milwaukee County courthouse.
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Passion Watson was sentenced to 120 days at the Community Reintegration Center (formerly known as the House of Corrections), a 12-month probation, and 100 hours of community service.
During the hearing, Watson told the judge she felt "remorseful" for what had happened, as she herself is the mom of a young boy.
Oak Creek authorities said in May, a drug-sniffing dog located cocaine at the local KinderCare which was bagged up inside of Watson's backpack.
This, after an investigation sparked when Kimberly Hopson, the victim's mother, noticed bruises and other unexplainable injuries on her son's body.
“I’m just upset with what happened to my son. It should’ve never happened," Hopson tearfully told CBS 58 after the sentencing had concluded. "My son wasn’t even walking at the time so it’s like how did he actually get into it? Like I will never know what happened to my son that day and it’s just so scary.”
Her son, who turned 1 during the investigation, now suffers from severe complications.
“He has developed mental issues that are documented, he now is a special needs child and has state resources that are now providing resources to assist him in that capacity," said Attorney B'Ivory LaMarr. “We now have to ask ourselves in this community, what will we accept as the standard?”
LaMarr said they are planning to continue the legal fight and will be "moving rapidly" to get justice.
“We now have to demand that childcare facilities have a requirement to have surveillance videos so that we don’t get put into a position in a criminal proceeding where a particular defendant is kind of left off the hook as it relates to abuse or potential negligence charges simply because of the state’s inability to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, those specific allegations," LaMarr said. “We will be initiating contact with the KinderCare facility, we will be aggressively pursuing all of the investigative records, we already have an open records request that went out, so we will be getting all of that information available.”
If the parties are unable to come to an agreement, LaMarr said they will pursue a damages case about the long-term effects that Hopson's son now experiences.
“We are satisfied with the fact that at least there were some charges brought but we can tell you for sure that this is just the beginning," LaMarr said.
In May, KinderCare sent CBS58 this statement:
"Nothing is more important to us than the safety of the children in our care. We work hard to create healthy spaces for work, play and learning. All of our centers and programs are drug, alcohol and tobacco free. The teacher involved is no longer a KinderCare employee."