Hinckley day care worker changes her plea to guilty

by Melissa Martin

A Hinckley Township resident changed her plea to guilty in a Medina County Common Pleas courtroom Sept. 14, following her indictment this past spring on 14 felony charges in connection with sexual abuse allegations at Little Busy Bee’z Early Learning Childhood Center, a Brunswick day care.

According to court records, Faith Morris, 20, an employee of the day care center, pleaded guilty to the following:

• four counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person
• one count of sexual battery
• eight counts of illegal use of a minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance
• one count of gross sexual imposition

Medina County Common Pleas Court Judge Bill Hutson will sentence Morris at 9 a.m. on Oct. 26.

Indictment documents released following Morris’ May 11 arrest stated she is accused of creating or publishing obscene material that used minors as participants, and that she engaged in sexual activity with minors or caused minors to engage in sexual activity. A separate criminal complaint also confirms Morris was in possession of multiple images and videos of children engaging in sexual activity with adults at the time of her arrest.

After initially pleading not guilty this past June, Morris’ bond was set at $200,000 and bond conditions specified she was not to have contact with anyone under the age of 18, or the victims and their families. She also was placed on home arrest and prohibited from accessing the internet on any device.

Hinckley Police, who made the arrest, said the department was first notified of the illegal activity last fall through representatives of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

As a result of Morris’ change in plea, she will now be classified as a Tier II sex offender/child-victim offender and would have registration obligations for life, including verification every 90 days, Hutson said.

Parents of six minors have since filed a civil lawsuit against the day care, one of its owners and Morris. Attorney Hank Chamberlain, who represents the families, said the families learned about the alleged abuse from police.

“It was out of the blue before they were contacted by authorities,” Chamberlain said. “They had no inkling about anything until police informed them.”