Colorado daycare owner with license to care for six kids is jailed for hiding TWENTY SIX neglected children behind fake wall at her home business

• Carla Marie Faith hid 26 children from officers in a basement at her daycare
• Officers heard cries and noticed a fake, sliding wall covering the staircase down
• She was licensed to look after six kids when police arrived in November 2019
• Faith was also caring for more than the two under-2’s she was allowed to have 
• Some were soiled, and one parent says her kids are now ‘fearful of the world’
• Since then, the Mountain Play Place daycare in Colorado Springs has shut down

Carla Marie Faith was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday on 26 counts of misdemeanor child abuse and other charges

A Colorado daycare owner has been sentenced to six years in prison after she hid 26 kids in her basement, with some children still traumatized as a result.

A staircase to the basement was hidden behind a sliding fake wall when police arrived to Carla Marie Faith’s Mountain Play Place in Colorado Springs in November 2019.

She was only licensed to care for six children, but had taken on more than four times as many. Twelve of the youngsters were under two years-old, despite Faith being told she could only care for two kids in that age bracket. 

The kids, some of whom were sweaty, soiled and thirsty, were being looked after by just two adults, according to an arrest affidavit. 

A 26th child was picked up by a parent while police were at the daycare.

The daycare has since been closed, along with another one owned by Faith. 

On Thursday, Faith was sentenced to six years in prison on 26 counts of misdemeanor child abuse and one count each of attempting to influence a public servant and obstructing a peace officer.

Faith hid 26 kids, far more than the six she was licensed to look after, in a basement. ‘This wasn’t an accident. This was not a result of a momentary lapse in judgment,’ a judge said

Officers arrived at the Mountain Play Place in Colorado Springs in November 2019 after reports that Faith had more children than she was allowed to. The daycare has since closed

She was convicted in July.

‘What you did was wrong on so many levels. This wasn’t an accident. This was not a result of a momentary lapse in judgment … She made a series of choices that placed the safety and welfare of 26 children in jeopardy,’ Fourth Judicial District Judge Gregory Werner said Thursday.

Lead prosecutor Andrew Herlihy played a 48-minute video for the court featuring statements from parents and professionals, according to local station KOAA.

One parent cried as she described the daycare’s impact on her daughter: ‘She became more aggressive, she was hitting … pulling hair.’

Parent Kim Marshall said that both of her children still receive counseling.

‘We sleep with the lights on in our house,’ she said. ‘My kids are anxious. They are fearful of the world.’

Child psychiatry professor Dr. Steven Berkowitz said that ‘these kinds of experiences that these children had at this daycare can have long term impacts.’

He added that the kids are at high risk for emotional, psychiatric and medical problems.

A parent outside of Thursday’s hearing said: ‘We’re gonna have to pursue therapy and make sure that all of us can continue on in a healthy manner’

Faith’s defense attorney, Josh Tolini, objected to Dr. Berkowitz’s assessment, arguing that he wasn’t qualified to comment because he had never met Faith. 

Police went to her Mountain Play Place daycare in November 2019 after receiving reports that there were more children than allowed.

When police arrived, Faith repeatedly told an officer that no children were there and that the home didn’t have a basement, but the officer heard children’s music and a child’s cry from the basement, the affidavit said.

Officers found the wall hiding the staircase to the basement when one of them bumped into it, according to court documents.

The wall moved, and the officer noticed ‘two parallel scrape marks on the wooden floor’ that led away from the wall.

The officer moved a plant to reveal a ‘small seam’ between the wall and ‘false wall.’ 

He pulled the false wall to the right, revealing a stairwell leading down to the basement.

They found 25 children in the basement, including 12 children under age 2, prosecutors said. 

There were two adult employees supervising them in the basement and one of them, Valerie Fresquez, accepted a plea deal and testified at Faith’s trial, KRDO-TV reported. 

Charges against Fresquez will be dropped if she meets some unspecified steps. 

The 26th child who had been in the basement was picked up by a parent while police were at the day care, authorities said.

Many of the children had soiled or wet diapers and were sweaty and thirsty, according to an arrest affidavit.

Faith’s lawyer, Josh Tolini, said she had difficulty saying to ‘no’ to parents who wanted to place their children at her day care and that the situation snowballed.

She made some ‘incredibly poor decisions about how to do this,’ Tolini said.

Day care employee Christina Swauger was convicted of the same charges as Faith and is awaiting sentencing. 

Swauger was supposed to be sentenced Thursday as well, but she was quarantined in jail and her hearing was moved to November 4, according to KOAA

An arrest warrant has been issued for another former day care employee who failed to appear in court, said Howard Black, a spokesperson for the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Colorado.

Counterpoint School, also owned by Faith, was shut down by state investigators.

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