DELAWARE COUNTY — The former owner of a central Ohio daycare was sentenced to over 40 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to endangering children charges.
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Rhonda Coomes, 53, appeared in Delaware County Court of Common Pleas where she was sentenced to 42 years in prison, according to our news partners at WBNS.
Coomes was indicted in April 2024 on 14 counts of child endangerment and three counts of kidnapping. While she previously pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, she changed her plea and pleaded guilty to the 14 counts of endangering children in December, according to court documents.
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The kidnapping charges were connected to a specific incident where Coomes reportedly restrained children in a high chair and assaulted them. Those charges have since been dropped, according to WBNS.
Prosecutors said the 14 child endangerment charges were connected to incidents involving 14 different children.
As previously reported, Coomes reportedly hit a 10-month-old child multiple times in the face and nose area with the palm of her hand. She was also accused of hitting the child with a hard plastic diaper wipe container.
The 10-month-old was also allegedly tossed into a pack-and-play and landed on her back. WBNS reported that she had a black eye at the end of the day.
Investigators obtained nearly two months of videos recorded on her in-home camera system that showed Coomes “cruelly abusing children in her home,” WBNS reported.
In court, parents of the impacted children said the kids suffered physical and mental injuries while under Coomes’ care.
She apologized in court, saying she was “truly sorry.”
“I never meant to do any of this,” Coomes said.
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