8/27/2021- 8:51 a.m.
COLORADO – Carla Faith found guilty of child abuse after a ‘false wall’ was found in a Colorado Springs day care with more than 2 dozen kids in the basement. She was handed to the 12 jurors around noon Thursday, just four days after the trial started.
Carla Faith who at one time ran four child care facilities in Colorado Springs, was found guilty of 26 counts of knowing/reckless child abuse without injury, as well as charges for running a child care facility without a license and attempting to influence a public servant.
According to police at the time, the welfare check was initiated following multiple complaints that Faith’s Play Mountain Place facility was housing more kids than it was licensed to.
The charges stem from 2019, when Springs police officers executed a welfare check at one of her day cares and discovered nearly 30 children behind a false wall in the basement. When officers walked down the stairs, they located two adults and 25 kids inside a finished basement, all of who were under the age of 3 years old. Officers immediately began working with [The Colorado Department of Human Services] to release the children back to their parents.”
Three employees were arrested in 2019 alongside their boss. One took a plea deal, while the other two, Christina Swauger and Katelynn Nelson, were slated to be tried with Faith. Nelson never appeared in court, and a warrant has been issued.
Swauger was also found guilty of child abuse on Wednesday. Nelson is still on the run and wanted by authorities.
“So what happened here today was that we were able to achieve justice,” said District Attorney Michael Allen. “And justice on behalf of every single one of these parents that we have behind me today, parents that had to live through something that they never would’ve imagined. Having the kids locked in the basement at a place that they were taking their kids to for care. Some place they trusted and felt like they were getting the care that they were expecting to achieve.
Three other facilities would go on to be closed during the course of the investigation. Previous coverage on that investigation can be read here.
