'It's any parent's nightmare': Judge sentences women to prison for day care abuse

Two former Sioux Falls day care workers charged with abusing children during nap time were sentenced to prison Friday.

Teresa Jean Gallagher, 32, was sentenced on two counts of abuse that she'd previously pleaded guilty to, while still maintaining her innocence after a judge said she lacked sufficient remorse for her actions.

Gallagher was given 10 years in prison with five years suspended and credit for two days in jail for one count of child abuse. She was handed a consecutive 10-year prison sentence with 10 years suspended for another count of child abuse by Judge Natalie Damgaard, who said she had violated the trust of parents and children put in her care.

"It's any parent's nightmare what happened to their child and their children," Damgaard said.

Gallagher was charged in April 2018 alongside Kenedit Ray Wendt, 23, after a child told his mother that an employee of Little Blessings Learning Center, where the two were employed, had banged his head on a mat while he was sleeping.

She accepted an Alford Plea in June, in which a defendant acknowledges that based on the case's evidence, a jury could reach a guilty verdict for the charges the defendant is facing, but allows the defendant to still maintain his or her innocence.

Gallagher pleaded to counts that alleged she "aggressively" or "forcefully adjusted" two 3-year-old children in one of the rooms at the day care in February 2018.

Wendt was given 10 years in prison with five years suspended for one court on child abuse and given a consecutive 10-year prison sentence with 10 years suspended for the second count of child abuse.

Wendt pleaded no contest to two charges of abuse or cruelty to a minor under the age of 7 in May, counts 21 and 42, connected to children who would have been 3 and 4 at the time of the allegations. Pleading no contest means the defendant isn't claiming guilt but understands that a jury may have sufficient evidence to convict them should the case go to trial.

More:Woman accused of day care nap time abuse pleads no contest

The women were indicted on 44 counts of abuse or cruelty to a minor under the age of 7, a class 3 felony, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison and/or a $30,000 fine. Abuse or cruelty to a minor is defined by South Dakota Codified Law as "any person who abuses, exposes, tortures, torments, or cruelly punishes a minor in a manner which does not constitute aggravated assault."

Nathalia Baron said she watched her child turn into someone she didn't know after attending the Little Blessings day care. Her daughter became aggressive and would hit, bite, slap and step on others; she would soil her clothes even after learning potty training.

Baron added that she found bruises on her daughter's body, according to a written testimony from Baron read at Gallagher's sentencing.

"Imagine seeing your 3-year-old girl grab her dolls by the hair and slam them on the wall," Baron wrote in a statement read by the prosecutor during Gallagher's sentencing hearing.

Her daughter's behavior was a reflection of the abuse she'd endured by Gallagher, Baron wrote.

This was a story echoed nine times over from parents of children who attended Gallagher and Wendt's class. More than a year after Gallagher and Wendt were arrested, many of the children still suffer from night terrors, aggressive behavior, anxiety disorders and a fear of nap time, according to parents' testimonies.

Parents have been impacted by the abuse too, according to their statements, and some have had to go through therapy themselves. Marie Christensen said she watched the video surveillance of Gallagher laying on top of her son and holding him down during nap time.

"I beat myself up every day for not knowing what you did to my son," Christensen said during her emotional and tearful testimony. "I lost trust in people, in myself and others. I hope you are remorseful for what you did, but just know that you ruined their lives and we have to suffer that."

Gallagher was called a con, "the face of pure evil" and a "wolf in sheep's clothing" during several of the parents' testimonies. The parents recounted how their trust had been violated by Gallagher when they would pick up their children at the end of the day and she would lie to them about their child's behavior.

A parent contacted the Department of Social Services, which then contacted police. In early March 2018, a detective obtained video footage from the day care spanning the dates of Feb. 14 to Feb. 23., 2018, that showed Gallagher and Wendt repeatedly slamming children to the ground, yanking them by their arms and stomping on them, according to court documents.

More:Former daycare workers' attempt to dismiss 44-count child abuse indictment denied

Their parents were often told that their children, all between the ages of 3 and 4, were "being bad."

What was actually happening during nap time, according to court documents, was repeated abuse by the two women in response to minor and sometimes non-existent infractions. Police obtained video footage of the preschool room from Feb. 14 to Feb. 23, 2018, and found dozens of instances of abuse in that nine-day period, according to court documents. 

Wendt, who had worked in the preschool room since February 2017, was seen stomping on a child's back, yanking children by their arms, slamming them face-down into sleeping mats, stepping on a child's fingers and driving her knee into a child's back, according to court papers.

Video surveillance caught Gallagher sitting on children, throwing them, "body slamming" them, among other violent acts. Brittany Ugofsky said she watched video of her daughter being "manhandled, drug and hit" by Gallagher.

Many of the children now attend a different daycare, or don't attend day care at all because they are afraid of attending, according to the parents. Ugofsky's daughter attends a new day care, and she said she asked her daughter how the first day went when she picked her up.

"She said, 'The teachers are nice. They don't hit me," Ugofsky said.

No children required medical care, but some had complained of back pain or headaches, police said.

But Kristin O'Riley testified that her child had a bruise inside his ear consistent with injuries when someone is dragged by their ear and that a chiropractor advised that his back was too far out of line for someone his age.

"It's not fair," O'Riley said. "No matter what sentence, it's not going to be enough."

More:Police: Sioux Falls day care employees repeatedly abused toddlers

Gallagher addressed her charges and apologized to the parents for the damage she'd done through a tearful statement, saying she was remorseful for her actions.

"I hope your children continue to thrive and grow and that this becomes a distant memory for them," Gallagher said in her statement.

Gallagher's attorney said that she had led a "good and productive life" but had let frustrations about her work environment boil over into her relationships with the children she cared for.

But Gallagher used her position to bully children in her care, said Judge Damgaard at the end of the sentencing.

"Nothing that a child does deserves to be treated in the manner that you treated them," Damgaard said. "The parents are right. You are educated, you were placed in that position of trust and you knew better."

Gallagher was taken into custody directly after the sentencing.

Correction: Nathalia Baron's name was spelled wrong in the original version of this story.