A Carpio daycare operator is charged with physically and emotionally abusing the children in her care last year.

Sarah Ann Babinchak, 34, who operated the Country Steps Daycare in Carpio, is charged in district court in Minot with Class B felony child abuse, Class B felony aggravated assault on a 5 month old baby, and Class C felony child neglect.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed with the court by Berthold police chief Allen Schmidt, Babinchak allegedly threw babies on the floor. A 5-month-old boy who had been in her care was treated at a Fargo hospital for a skull fracture, bleeding on the brain and unnatural bruising on Dec. 2. A 7-year-old girl who also attended the daycare said Babinchak got mad at the baby when she could not get him to burp and threw the baby on the floor. The 7-year-old said she saw Babinchak do the same thing to a 1-year-old baby girl who also attended the daycare.

Babinchak also allegedly abused or neglected other children there.

Authorities then spoke with the parents of a baby girl who had attended the daycare. They told authorities that they had taken the baby to the emergency room the previous summer when they picked her up from the daycare and had bruising on her face, two black eyes and a bloody nose. Three months later the baby girl again had bruising on her face and a black eye when the parents picked her up from daycare. The mother told authorities that she had heard Babinchak cursing at the children and call them names. Babinchak allegedly said she hated one of the children and wished he would not come to the daycare. Babinchak allegedly left a teenager in charge of the children alone for up to an hour and one of the mothers heard Babinchak admit that her daycare had more children than her license allowed.

A father of an 18-month-old who attended the daycare told authorities that his daughter suffered numerous bruises on her face while at daycare and Babinchak told him the child had fallen and hurt herself while playing with toys there.

The mother of a 2-year-old who attended the daycare told authorities that Babinchak never changed her daughter’s diaper and the toddler was always crying when she came to pick her up from daycare. That mother told authorities that she had heard Babinchak screaming at the kids at the daycare while she was picking up her daughter.

Another woman told authorities she had removed her children from the daycare because Babinchak wouldn’t follow her instructions regarding pull-up diapers for her son. Her son had also suffered three large scratches on his neck while at Babinchak’s daycare. Babinchak told the mother she had accidentally scratched the boy with her wedding ring while she was bathing him, but the woman didn’t think Babinchak’s explanation matched the injury.

Multiple parents told authorities that their children often vomited after leaving the daycare.

Another parent said her son had a scratch mark next to his genitals which looked like nail scratches.

There were also multiple daycare license violations at the Country Steps Daycare. For instance, Babinchak allegedly failed to report injuries to the children at the daycare, failed to provide a snack or meal to children in care for more than three hours or tried to force feed them. There were also more children at the daycare than she was licensed to care for and there were potential hazards in the home.

Babinchak was scheduled to make an initial appearance in district court in Minot on Tuesday.