Inset: Katelyn Strohacker (Licking County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The Over the Rainbow Children Center in Pataskala, Ohio, where Katelyn Strohacker allegedly used painter’s tape to bind a 1-year-old child (Google Maps).
An Ohio woman working at a day care with young children allegedly wrapped “painter’s tape” around the eyes, feet and hands of a 1-year-old girl — binding her arms behind her back and both legs together — before leaving the child “face down under a blanket unattended,” according to police.
Katelyn Strohacker, 23, is facing a charge of child endangerment for the July 21 incident at Over the Rainbow Children’s Center in Pataskala, according to her criminal complaint, which was filed last week in Licking County.
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Strohacker is accused of using the painter’s tape to “administer corporal punishment or other physical disciplinary measure” and “physically restrain the child in a cruel manner,” the complaint says. The girl’s mother contacted police on Aug. 7 and said she had been contacted by the director of the day care facility, Jamie Schoelkopf, about the alleged incident.
According to the mom, Strohacker “had bound and left [her daughter] in a bed for an hour” that day after wrapping her up with the tape. The investigation revealed that Strohacker allegedly placed painter’s tape on the child’s eyes, taped her hands behind her back, and taped the girl’s feet together before leaving her face down under the blanket.
“The defendant was subsequently interviewed and admitted to doing this and [to] doing this on more than one occasion,” the complaint says.
Strohacker was arrested and later released on a $50,000 surety bond. She is prohibited from having any unsupervised contact with minors and is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on Aug. 28.
The Over the Rainbow Children’s Center did not respond to Law&Crime’s requests for comment on Thursday. It provided a statement to local CBS affiliate WBNS, saying safety was the “top priority,” the outlet reports.
“We became aware of an incident with a former employee, the day care said. “As a result of the incident, both the employee and supervisor have been terminated. We have been in contact with the family of the child involved and reported the incident to authorities.”
