WAUKESHA POLICE RAIDED THE LAWRENCE SCHOOL DAYCARE ON SAYLESVILLE ROAD IN SEPTEMBER. IT CAME AFTER A WORKER THERE HAD SEEN ENOUGH, AND TOLD THE PARENTS OF A ONE-YEAR-OLD BOY THAT SHE SAW 49-YEAR-OLD HEATHER MILLER REPEATEDLY DEMEAN THE BOY, HAD THROWN HIM INTO A CRIB AND HELD HIS FACE DOWN INTO THE MATTRESS UNTIL HE GASPED FOR AIR . MANAGEMENT, SHE SAID, DID NOTHING ABOUT IT. >> THE STATE VERSUS HEATHER MILLER. REPORTER: MILLER WAS ALREADY CHARGED IN THAT CASE, BUT IN COURT THURSDAY WAS CHARGED WITH THREE NEW COUNTS OF PHYSICAL ABUSE OF A CHILD BY A CHILD CARE PROVIDER, FOR TWO OTHER KIDS. IN ONE CASE, A WITNESS SAID MILLER TOOK A CRYING ONE-YEAR-OLD GIRL AND SLAMMED HER HEAD DOWN INTO THE BOTTOM OF THE PACK ’N PLAY. A DIFFERENT WITNESS SAID MILLER TOOK A ONE-YEAR-OLD BOY AND "GRABBED HIM BY ONE ARM AND FLUNG HIM IN THE AIR 8 TO 10 FEET HITTING HIS FACE ON THE FLOOR." >> THIS IS AN EGREGIOUS BREACH OF THE PUBLIC’S TRUST, SHE WAS IN A POSITION OF TRUST FOR ALL THESE PARENTS TO PLACE THEIR CHILDREN IN EVERY DAY, AND SHE BREACHED THAT TRUST. >> MY SON HAD THAT TEACHER FOR A WHILE. YOU GOT TO WONDER. MY SON DID NOT LIKE THAT TEACHER. REPORTER: PARENTS LIKE APRIL SAY IT LEFT EVERYONE WONDERING, BECAUSE SOME OF THEIR KIDS WERE TOO YOUNG TO TALK. >> IT IS A HORRIBLE FEELING. JOYCE: YOU CAN FEEL FOR THOSE PARENTS. NICK, YOU MENTIONED ALLEGATIONS THAT THE MANAGEMENT THERE DIDN’T REPORT THE ABUSE OR EVEN FIRE MILLER. REPORTER: RIGHT, AND THEY’RE NOW CHARGED AS WELL FOR FAILING TO PREVENT BODILY HARM TO A CHILD. THEY’RE IDENTIFIED AS 26-YEAR-OLD ANNEMARIE FRAKER OF SUSSEX AND 52-YEAR-OLD KATHRYN ASCHER. THEY’RE DUE TO MAKE THEIR INITIAL COURT APPEARANCES NEXT MONTH.
New charges filed in Waukesha day care abuse
Managers also now facing felony charges
Updated: 7:40 PM CST Jan 26, 2023
New charges have been issued in a day care abuse case in Waukesha. Heather Miller, 49, is facing three additional felony counts. Her supervisors at The Lawrence School day care are also now charged for failing to stop the alleged abuse. Miller was already facing child abuse charges involving a boy who’d just turned 1. The new charges focus on two more young kids under the age of 2. Waukesha police raided the Lawrence School day care on Saylesville Road in September. It came after a worker there had seen enough and told the parents of a 1-year-old boy that she saw Miller repeatedly demean the boy, throw him down hard into a crib, and hold his face down into the mattress until he gasped for air. The employee told investigators that she reported the abuse to management, but they didn’t act on it. In court on Thursday, Miller was charged with three new counts of physical abuse of a child by a child care provider for two other kids. In one case, a co-worker said Miller took a crying 1-year-old girl and "slammed her head down into the bottom of the Pack 'n Play." A different co-worker said Miller took a 1-year-old boy and "grabbed him by one arm and flung him in the air ... 8 to 10 feet ... hitting his face on the floor." In Waukesha court on Thursday, Waukesha County Assistant District Attorney Kristi Gordon asked Judge Lloyd Carter to increase Miller’s $6,000 bail, given the new charges. "This is an egregious breach of the public's trust, that she was in a position of trust for all these parents, to place their children in every single day and breached that trust," Gordon said. However, the judge said Miller hadn't missed a court appearance since she was first charged and did not increase the bail amount. Miller posted the amount the same day she was charged and has been free awaiting trial. Two managers at the Lawrence School day care were charged this week as well. Annemarie Fraker, 26, and Kathryn Ascher, 52, are charged with failing to prevent bodily harm to a child. They’re due to make their initial court appearances next month.
WAUKESHA, Wis. — New charges have been issued in a day care abuse case in Waukesha.
Heather Miller, 49, is facing three additional felony counts. Her supervisors at The Lawrence School day care are also now charged for failing to stop the alleged abuse.
Miller was already facing child abuse charges involving a boy who’d just turned 1. The new charges focus on two more young kids under the age of 2.
Waukesha police raided the Lawrence School day care on Saylesville Road in September. It came after a worker there had seen enough and told the parents of a 1-year-old boy that she saw Miller repeatedly demean the boy, throw him down hard into a crib, and hold his face down into the mattress until he gasped for air. The employee told investigators that she reported the abuse to management, but they didn’t act on it.
In court on Thursday, Miller was charged with three new counts of physical abuse of a child by a child care provider for two other kids. In one case, a co-worker said Miller took a crying 1-year-old girl and "slammed her head down into the bottom of the Pack 'n Play." A different co-worker said Miller took a 1-year-old boy and "grabbed him by one arm and flung him in the air ... 8 to 10 feet ... hitting his face on the floor."
In Waukesha court on Thursday, Waukesha County Assistant District Attorney Kristi Gordon asked Judge Lloyd Carter to increase Miller’s $6,000 bail, given the new charges.
"This is an egregious breach of the public's trust, that she was in a position of trust for all these parents, to place their children in every single day and breached that trust," Gordon said.
However, the judge said Miller hadn't missed a court appearance since she was first charged and did not increase the bail amount. Miller posted the amount the same day she was charged and has been free awaiting trial.
Two managers at the Lawrence School day care were charged this week as well. Annemarie Fraker, 26, and Kathryn Ascher, 52, are charged with failing to prevent bodily harm to a child. They’re due to make their initial court appearances next month.