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October 15, 2004
Grand jury indicts former day care owner on six
RITA BAUER, The Tullahoma News Staff Writer
A former Tullahoma day care owner was indicted by the Coffee County Grand Jury Tuesday on six separate criminal charges.
Sally L. Armstrong, 48, is now scheduled for arraignment Oct. 19 on the charges that stem from a joint investigation last June by the Tullahoma police, the State Department of Human Services and Child Protective Services last June.
Ms. Armstrong, who owned and operated Penny's Short People Day Care at 307 N. Polk St. in Tullahoma, was indicted on the following charges: failure to report child abuse, failure to report child sexual abuse, child abuse, false reporting and two counts of writing a worthless check, according to court records from the grand jury session.
She remains free on $12,000 bond pending the arraignment next week.
Ms. Armstrong voluntarily relinquished her state license and closed the day care center June 29 after police confronted her with allegations that she knew of a child attending her day care possibly being sexually abused at home and she did not report the suspicion to state authorities.
An investigation by the Tullahoma Police Department and Child Protective Services indicated that Ms. Armstrong was made aware of other suspected abuse of children cared for at her facility and failed to report the alleged abuse as required by state law, Police Sgt. Mike Mann said.
Ms. Armstrong is further alleged to have failed to report possible abuse and neglect of children by her own day care center employees. Those allegations relate to reports of diapers not being changed as needed, employees picking children up by one arm and possibly hurting them, and in general not providing basic care necessities, including food, Mann said.
Ms. Armstrong also is alleged to have filed a false report with police against one of her employees in June to detract attention from a DCS investigation into complaints against the day care filed by the parents of a child being cared for there, according to police.
Posted by Nealus at October 15, 2004 11:03 AM
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