A South County pre-school teacher was charged today with 10 misdemeanors after a fellow teacher discovered that she had dosed toddlers’ sippy cups with sleeping pills, according to authorities.
Deborah Gratz, 59, of Hollister, was charged with five counts of attempted child endangerment and five counts of assault in relation to reports that she slipped sleep aid medication into the drinks of several children under her care at Kiddie Academy in Morgan Hill earlier this month, according to a press release from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. If convicted of all charges, she faces a jail sentence.
Gratz’ arraignment is set for 9 a.m. March 26 at the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill.
“When a parent drops off their child at a day care facility there is an expectation that the child will be cared for, protected and loved,’’ Deputy DA Sumerle Davis said. “In this situation, a teacher violated that trust by intentionally trying to provide sleeping pills to unsuspecting children without their parents’ permission or knowledge.”
Gratz has worked at the Kiddie Academy since 2007, authorities said. She supervised the nap times of about 10 children between the ages of 1 and 2. A fellow teacher observed Gratz putting Sominex into water cups of the children. The cups were confiscated before any children could drink from them. Teachers found residue in five of the cups. The sleep-aid contains a warning not to give the product to children younger than 12.
Gratz was arrested March 11 by Morgan Hill police and is out of custody on supervised release, the release said.
Gratz has worked at the day care facility worked at the company for five years, and has been a child care professional for 20 years, police said, but has never been accused of mistreating local children before last week.
Police arrested Gratz last Monday, after staff at the day care facility at 15750 Monterey Road reported she was seen sneaking an unknown substance into the children’s drinks, according to Morgan Hill Police Sgt. Troy Hoefling. She was booked on suspicion of felony child endangerment, though police do not think any of the children consumed the substance.
The incident was in fact observed Friday, March 8, when a co-worker of Gratz’ reported seeing her place the unknown substance in the drinks. Hoefling said it would have been more helpful to the investigation if day care staff had reported Gratz’ suspicious behavior immediately. Hoefling didn’t know why the staff waited three days to report the incident, but speculated maybe they “were trying to figure it out internally.”
Police reported that Kiddie Academy staff terminated Gratz because of the incident, but did so prior to reporting it to authorities.
Before calling police, Kiddie Academy staff questioned Gratz and determined the substance she poured into the children’s drinks was Sominex, an over-the-counter sleeping aid, police said.
The website www.drugs.com lists the possible uses of Sominex and its active ingredient diphenhydramine as treatment for cold and allergy symptoms, motion sickness, mild forms of Parkinson’s disease, and to induce sleep. Side effects of Sominex include dizziness or drowsiness, headaches and dryness of the mouth. The website says infants are “especially sensitive” to diphenhydramine, and side effects could even occur in a breast-feeding baby.
But the day care staff discarded the drinks containing the substance before calling police, and that evidence could have been useful to investigators.
An employee of Kiddie Academy Childcare who answered the phone Tuesday declined to comment on the incident, and referred questions to police. The facility is part of a chain, with additional locations in San Jose, Cupertino and Mountain View listed on the Kiddie Academy website. There is also a link on the website labeled “franchising opportunities available nationwide.”
“We could have taken the substance, analyzed it, tested it, and determined exactly what it was,” Hoefling said. “It would have been better if they called immediately, with the suspect still there.”
A Gilroy childcare professional who has been in the field since 1997, and has no affiliation with Kiddie Academy, said giving children medications without permission violates common sense.
“It is standard common knowledge that children are never to be given medications, over-the-counter or prescription, without a parent or doctor filling out a permission form,” said Terri Lindseth, owner of Terri’s Learning Tree Preschool in Gilroy.
After the initial report of the accusations last Monday, March 11, police served a search warrant at Gratz’ Hollister home, where they seized undisclosed evidence related to the investigation, and arrested Gratz, police said.
She was booked at Santa Clara County Jail, but was later released from custody on her own recognizance, Hoefling said.
The investigation includes trying to determine if the March 8 attempted drugging was the first time that Gratz tried to slip sleeping aids to the one-year-old and two-year-old toddlers under her care, Hoefling said.
Police do not think that any kids consumed the substance on March 8, and no injuries or illness were reported as a result of that incident.
“Our main concern is that this could have been going on for some time,” Hoefling said. “If the parents can’t explain why their kids came home groggy and tired, we want to know.”
Hoefling added that prior to last Monday, Morgan Hill police have never received any previous reports accusing Gratz or any other employee of Kiddie Academy of mistreating kids or any other crimes. Gratz worked at the facility full-time, and was in charge of a class of toddlers between the ages of 1 and 2.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about the case can contact Morgan Hill Police Detective Joe Burdick at (408) 779-2101. Anonymous tips may be left at (408) 947-7867.
