A Champlin day care provider has admitted in court to putting down a 6-month-old boy "a little harder than normal" and inflicting a severe brain injury.
Michelle M. Holte, 59, agreed to plead guilty Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court to first-degree assault in connection with her injuring the boy Oct. 18 at her home in the 11700 block of Colorado Avenue N.
Prosecutors agreed to drop its intention to seek an aggravated sentence as part of the plea deal. Sentencing is scheduled for May 24 before Judge Jay Quam.
The state revoked Holte's day-care license, which had allowed her to care for up to 10 children in her home.
The criminal complaint said the boy, whose identity has not been released in public court documents, was facing "long-term medical consequences" after a hospital examination revealed a severe brain injury and bleeding on the brain and elsewhere in his head.
According to the complaint and an accompanying court filing:
The boy's parents picked him up from day care and noticed he would not look straight ahead and his limbs were rigid.
After taking the boy to the hospital, his mother called Holte, who explained that her son was dropped by another child. Holte gave police investigators the same account, but a doctor who examined the boy said the injuries were inconsistent with Holte's contention.
During a second interview with investigators, Holte acknowledged tossing the boy into a playpen and "putting him down a little harder than normal," the complaint quoted her as saying.
She said she was feeling overwhelmed and frustrated at the time. She added that she has been providing day care for so long that she got to "a breaking point in a bad way, in a wrong way," her quotes in the complaint continued.
