‘Wakes up screaming’: Parents of Hobart child neglect victims react to arrests of former caregivers

KIOWA COUNTY, Okla. ( KFOR ) – Two former employees at a Head Start facility in Hobart turned themselves into the Kiowa County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday for allegations of child neglect.

The allegations stem from an investigation launched in April by the Kiowa County District Attorney’s Office. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said it was asked by the District Attorney to assist with looking into Pamela Siesser, 40, and Crystal Edmundson, 43.

The Director of Community Action Development Corporation Head Start (CADC) in Hobart confirmed that Siesser and Edmundson both worked at the facility, but were now former employees.

Court documents say the two women were observed on video yanking and/or grabbing children in a rough manner. Edmundson was observed dumping children off their cots while they were sleeping.

Documents cite examples with at least three different children, but note that every fact known in the investigation was not included in them, just what was needed to establish probable cause.

“If you were to have done that to anyone, I don’t care the age, if you were to have done that to anyone you’d go to jail immediately,” said Dennis Mowery, the father of one of the victims.

Mowery says he was shown video of his daughter being dragged across the classroom by her arm before dropping her; and letting her fall on the ground. Documents say Siesser also went back and yanked her up off the ground by both arms.

“My child still has nightmares to this day,” said Mowery. “She wakes up screaming and it’s not ok.”

News 4 employees also spoke with Christine Knight. Knight says she also was allowed to review video of her son being dumped out of a cot while he was sleeping and grabbed in a rough manner; before being forced to the ground to pick up his toys. Knight says her son was a 4-year-old at the time.

“He would always scream like he would when he [fell] asleep at home on the couch,” said Knight. “Like he would wake up just screaming, screaming bloody murder.”

News 4 received the following statement from CADC Head Start after inquiring about Siesser and Edmunson’s employment:

Thank you so much for reaching out to us.  The individuals were previously employed by us, but neither one is employed with us currently. Child safety is always our number one priority. Any alleged incident prompts an immediate investigation. That may include internal staff, the Department of Human Services, local/state law enforcement, or any other resource deemed necessary. In this case, CADC worked directly in collaboration with many of the aforementioned agencies. We are confident in the determinations made by those agencies to ensure our children are safe, and always adhere to their recommendations! Every alleged incident is followed up with continued education services for all staff members to reduce the risk of incident for both children and staff.

Robin Harris, Director-CADC, Head Start/Early Head Start

The Oklahoma Human Services website says CADC is a five star level program. The site was visited on the same day the investigation was launched in April after a complaint and found to be in compliance. A follow up visit was conducted two days later and the site was found in compliance. Two back-to-back visits in May showed the site was mostly in compliance, but one visited noted that a teacher did not have their Oklahoma Professional Development Ladder certificate.

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