New Allegations Against Daycare Owner Charged With Murder

Friday, June 8th 2007, 8:44 pm

By: News On 6

A Tulsa family is speaking out about the woman charged with murdering a 2-year-old boy in her care. We talked to a mother and grandmother Friday who say Vicki Chiles abused their little girl last year, but they say the DHS system is so broken, nothing ever came of their allegations. News On 6 anchor Jennifer Loren reports they say Joshua Minton would still be alive if they had only listened back then.

After 2-year-old Joshua Minton died at his daycare, Vicki Chiles, his daycare provider, was arrested and charged with his murder. Only then did we find out Chiles had been accused of child abuse on several previous occasions.

According to a newly released report, DHS looked in to each allegation, but no legal action was ever taken.

"What happens is, when you look at those reports, there are no substantiations of child abuse, and you have to have a substantiation of child abuse before you can take any action," said George Johnson of DHS.

He says there was no proof, but in the future, he says parents need to be more helpful to DHS by reporting their suspicions.

"Itâ€™s one thing to move your child out of a facility, but itâ€™s a entirely different thing to call child care licensing to let them know when they have seen things that they believe are inappropriate in a child care facility," Johnson said.

Crystal Hartley says Vicki Chiles abused her daughter and she did report it.

"It was the scariest day of my life,â€ said Hartley.

Hartley says her 4-year-old daughter had been in Chiles' care for three days when they noticed something was wrong.

"As she was washing her she pulled back the washcloth and it had a little bit of blood on it. Well that panicked her so she laid her down on the bed and she was all swollen. So, we immediately rushed her to the hospital," said Hartleyâ€™s mother Deanna Tiger.

They say doctors at Hillcrest confirmed the little girl had been sexually abused. Itâ€™s even in the DHS report that she told her mother it was "Miss Vicki."

They say DHS and Tulsa Police investigated, but as it also confirms in the report, nothing was done to Vicki Chiles.

We talked with the family of Joshua Minton on Friday. It is the first day they have actually seen all of the allegations previously reported to DHS about Vick Chiles. They say they are outraged but need some time to go over all of the information before they make a statement.

Watch the video: Mother Claims Daycare Owner Charged With Murder Abused Her Daughter

Related Stories:

5/17/2007 2-Year-Old Dies After Being Tied Up At Daycare, Says Police

5/18/2007 Selecting The Right Daycare For Your Children

5/18/2007 Daycare Worker Accused Of Killing Child Was Already Under Investigation

5/21/2007 Daycare Owner Accused Of Murder Had Previous Charges

5/22/2007 - Family Of Toddler Who Died At Daycare Speaks Out

5/24/2007 Parents Of Child Who Died In Daycare Speak