Attorney: ‘A lot of issues & abnormalities’ after Oak Creek KinderCare employee arrested when child tests positive for cocaine
An Oak Creek
By Adam Rife
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OAK CREEK, Wisconsin (WDJT) — An employee at an Oak Creek day care center was arrested and charged earlier this month after investigators found cocaine in her backpack at the facility.
Oak Creek police released the information on Tuesday, May 28. They said the investigation began when a mother found scratches on her then-11-month-old child. The boy later tested positive for cocaine metabolites.
An employee at the KinderCare in Oak Creek on South Howell Avenue was arrested.
The boy’s name is Prince; he turned 1 in the middle of the investigation and is still recovering.
KinderCare said the teacher -24-year-old Passion Watson- is no longer an employee. She’s facing a drug possession charge, and more charges could be on the way.
B’Ivory LaMarr is an attorney representing the family of the 1-year-old. He told us Tuesday, “There are a lot of issues and abnormalities that the mother, specifically, has witnessed.”
Prince’s mother, Kimberly Hopson, said she first noticed a bruise on her son’s nose May 3, but said KinderCare staff did not know what happened.
Over the next few days, she noticed more scratches and injuries.
LaMarr said there were “bruises pretty much all over the chest area, the abdomen area, the legs, his buttocks, even. The only explanation that was provided to his mother was that, somehow, he must have fell out of his highchair.”
After two straight days of vomiting, Hopson took Prince to the hospital.
On May 15, doctors at Children’s Wisconsin notified police of a possible child abuse case.
On May 21, they tested his urine, and it came back positive for cocaine metabolites.
Authorities first went to Kimberly’s home.
LaMarr said, “Her house is raided as a result of this teacher’s actions. Her privacy is invaded on based off the suspicion of cocaine.”
There was no evidence of any cocaine there.
On May 22 at the KinderCare in Oak Creek, a drug-sniffing dog found a baggie of cocaine in a backpack on the floor of an unlocked closet in the infant room.
Watson was arrested, and the state’s Department of Children and Families was notified.
Oak Creek police referred a misdemeanor drug possession charge and two felony charges, including child neglect, to the District Attorney’s Office, but so far only the misdemeanor drug charge has been filed.
Watson has since been released on a signature bond and ordered to have no contact with Prince or Kimberly Hopson, or the KinderCare where she worked.
KinderCare sent a statement Tuesday evening about the situation. It read:
“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.”
Hopson and LaMarr have scheduled a news conference for Wednesday to further discuss their case.
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