Ex-director of Gloworms day care in McCandless gets probation for mistreating toddlers
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A McKees Rocks woman accused of mistreating five toddlers at the McCandless day care she ran will serve two years probation.
Melissa Marie Populo, 38, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court to a single misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of children.
Populo worked as the director of the Gloworms Academy on Harmony Drive.
According to a criminal complaint, an employee at the day care contacted McCandless police on April 15 to report suspected child abuse.
The employee told police she was watching videos from the classroom from a few days earlier and saw Populo strike a 14-month-old in the face for not eating.
In reviewing additional video, police said Populo was seen approaching a 1-year-old in a high chair and slapping his face.
It also showed Populo picking up another 1-year-old by her left ankle and carrying her upside down, causing the child to cry.
In another instance, Populo shoved a pacifier into a toddler’s mouth so hard it caused him to bleed.
“The compilation of videos is striking in the number of distinct events, the cruelty of the actions of (Populo) and the lack of empathy shown by (Populo) to the toddlers,” police wrote in the complaint. “That these events occurred on video is even more striking.”
During Wednesday’s hearing, Assistant District Attorney Deanne Paul read a victim impact statement from the parents of one of the victims who was not yet 2 at the time.
Those parents, the statement said, watched the video of what happened to their son six months ago.
“It is still so vivid,” they wrote.
They said Populo approached their son aggressively, “practically dragging him across the floor,” and then grabbed his face and yelled directly into it.
“It was an abuse of power,” the parents wrote.
Their son couldn’t tell them what happened.
“This is not a child by age or vocabulary that could articulate what was happening to him,” they wrote.
The parents noticed when they would drop their son off at day care that he became upset, crying and refusing to go in.
“It was utterly heartbreaking and gut-wrenching,” they wrote.
Even after switching to a new day care, they said, it took four months before they had a calm drop-off.
Now, they continued, they just want to ensure Populo is unable to work in child care again.
Defense attorney Steve Tehovnik told the court that his client is now working as a delivery driver.
“She has taken responsibility for her actions,” Tehovnik said, noting that Populo cried during the victim impact statement. “She is very affected by this.”
When asked by the court if she would like to speak, Populo said, “Just that I’m sorry.”
Initially charged with five felony counts, Populo pleaded to a single reduced misdemeanor count. The four other charges were withdrawn.
“The sole count is meant globally to encompass all victims,” Paul said. “We just consolidated to one count.”
As part of Populo’s probation, Common Pleas Judge Thomas E. Flaherty ordered a behavioral health evaluation.