STAUNTON — A Stuarts Draft woman who was running an unlicensed daycare inside her home, where a 1-year-old girl died in 2022, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Augusta County Circuit Court to three felony charges.
Denise M. Stewart, 53, was convicted on two counts of welfare fraud and one count of child neglect.
On Oct. 18, 2022, the sheriff's office received a call concerning an unresponsive child at Stewart's home in the 1500 block of Stuarts Draft Highway. The Augusta County Sheriff's Office said resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful and the toddler, about two months shy of her second birthday, could not be revived.
Following an autopsy, the girl's cause of death remained undetermined. Augusta County Commonwealth's Attorney Tim Martin said she had Covid-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and flu-like symptoms, and said it's possible the girl died "absent the neglect because she had so many things in her system."
As authorities investigated, Augusta County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Holly Rasheed said they discovered that Stewart fraudulently applied for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in 2017, and also did not report her husband's income or her daycare income, resulting in the welfare fraud charges. In all, she collected nearly $40,000 in illegal benefits, Rasheed said.
Stewart questioned
Based on an affidavit for a search warrant filed by the Augusta County Sheriff's Office, Stewart told an investigator the girl was playful up until her nap time, when she put her inside a playpen in a bedroom. After nearly an hour, Stewart said she tried waking the girl but noticed she was limp.
After Stewart called 911 and authorities arrived at the scene, she made conflicting statements. She initially told an investigator there were five children in the home at the time of the girl's death. However, she also informed a Child Protective Services investigator there were about a dozen children in the residence, court documents show.
Rasheed said one adult can watch up to only four infants in a licensed daycare facility in Virginia, but said there were 13 children in Stewart's care ranging from two months to three years old.
Stewart remains free on bond. A sentencing date on the three felony charges was set for Nov. 18.
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Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on X (formerly Twitter).
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Stuarts Draft woman who ran unlicensed daycare, where girl died, pleads guilty
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