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Former daycare worker pleads no contest after state says children were given melatonin
Summary
Jordan Hannah Darnell entered a no-contest plea to attempted child abuse in Dixon County Court and received probation after the state said she gave children melatonin at Mimi’s Daycare, causing severe reactions; co-defendants remain under investigation.
Jordan Hannah Darnell, a former employee at Mimi’s Daycare in Stewart County, pleaded no contest May 20 in Dixon County Criminal Court to one count of attempted child abuse and was sentenced to probation under a negotiated agreement. The plea resolves part of an indictment that accused Darnell and others of administering drugs to children in the daycare.
The state told the court it would prove that “between May first of 2021 and March 25th of 2022, the defendant Jordan H. Darnell … periodically gave 30 milligrams of melatonin to children under the ages of 8 … while those children were at Mimi’s daycare,” Assistant District Attorney General Allen said during the hearing. The prosecutor said the children suffered night terrors, vomiting and other serious effects.
Judge David D. Wolfe accepted Darnell’s plea to a reduced count of attempted child abuse. The court dismissed two other counts as part of the agreement and imposed an effective sentence that places Darnell on supervised probation for five years. Under the terms the judge described in court, some counts carried one-year sentences that were ordered to run concurrent or consecutive so the effective disposition was probation, with a requirement that Darnell testify truthfully against any co-defendant who goes to trial. The judge also ordered that Darnell “will not be able to work for a licensed day care center while on probation.” The judge instructed Darnell to meet with the probation department before leaving the courthouse.
Defense attorney Jonathan Cox told the court he had discussed the state’s evidence and the range of punishment with Darnell. Darnell answered the court’s questions on the record and confirmed she wished to enter the plea.
Prosecutors said investigators recovered video and other evidence from the daycare and that co-defendants attempted to tamper with a camera recording. The prosecution told the court a camera was eventually turned over to law enforcement.
The investigation and plea do not resolve charges against other named defendants, including Jamie J. Clark and Kristen Clark, who were referenced in court as co-defendants. The judge set further case-management dates to address remaining counts and related proceedings.
Court records and the prosecutor’s on-the-record summary form the basis of the state’s representations at the plea hearing. The court’s judgment includes the probation terms and the condition that Darnell must cooperate with prosecutors in related prosecutions.
