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State suspends license of Shelby day care; owner speaks out

Posted at 10:53 AM, Oct 24, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-24 18:28:46-04

SHELBY, Mich. - An Oceana County day care has had its license suspended by the state after reports that the owner allowed five children to play unsupervised on the second floor of the home and the children had "inappropriate sexual conduct with each other."

The state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, (LARA), suspended the license of Diana Pretty from operating a day care home at 114 5th Street East, in Shelby, Michigan, as of Friday evening. LARA says they are seeking to revoke Pretty's license.

The order from LARA says they received a complaint in January 2017 that five children between the ages of five and ten years old were playing unsupervised on the second floor of the home while Pretty was on the first floor.  During that time, the kids allegedly had inappropriate sexual contact with each other.

FOX 17 spoke with Pretty who said, "The child was taken to a doctor and the doctor said there was nothing, no evidence of anything that happened."

She continued, "I have written proof from parents, and it never happened. There was the kissing and the father even mentioned— and we had had trouble with the little girl wanting to kiss the little boys all the time. But yes, they were left up there for a short time, but the sexual thing never did happen.”

Also, the order says that in September, nine of the 11 children being cared for at the home were left outside in a fenced in yard unsupervised and one child wandered away and was found crying by a neighbor two homes away.

Pretty said, “The little boy leaving my yard did happen. He did get out through our garage which I didn’t realize had gotten unlocked, and he was able to get it open and get out.”

She said she plans to appeal the decision.

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