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Three Daycare Teachers In Des Plaines, IL Charged With Drugging Kids With Gummy Bears Containing Melatonin So They Can Sleep

3 Daycare Teachers In Des Plaines, IL Charged With Drugging The Kids With Gummy Bears Containing Melatonin So They Can Sleep

Three teachers at a day care center in northwest suburban Des Plaines have been charged with drugging children with the sleep aid melatonin.

Officers were called at 12:48 p.m. Friday to Kiddie Junction, 1619 E. Oakton St. in Des Plaines, according to a statement from Des Plaines police. When they arrived, investigators learned that some of the teachers had been giving children gummy bears containing melatonin “in an effort to calm them down before nap time.”

The distribution of the melatonin was not authorized by the children’s parents, police said. Every parentwith a child attending Kiddie Junction was notified about the investigation.

Kristen M. Lauletta, 32, of Niles; Jessica Heyse, 19, of Des Plaines; and 25-year-old Ashley Helfenbein of Chicago were each charged with two counts of endangering the life or health of a child and two counts of battery, police said.

The teachers told officers “they did not think administering the melatonin laced gummies was inappropriate as they were an over the counter sleep aid,” police said.

Police said the management of Kiddie Junction was “helpful and assisted during the entire investigation.”

Police also contact the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, which will conduct its own investigation.

 

Source: Fox 32 Chicago

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