New photos show alleged childcare abuse as family calls for accountability in teacher’s cocaine case
By Adam Rife
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OAK CREEK, Wisconsin (WDJT) — New photos show the injuries an infant allegedly suffered at an Oak Creek daycare facility where cocaine was later found.
The boy is still recovering as his family called for justice at an emotional news conference on Wednesday, May 29.
The family says they feel betrayed and they cannot trust anyone with their child again.
Meanwhile, KinderCare shared with us the hiring and monitoring practices they abide by, despite nearly two dozen reported violations in recent years.
Kimberly Hopson, the mother of Prince, said, “I can’t believe what happened to my son. How could you do that to an innocent baby?”
New photos show the injuries then-11-month-old Prince allegedly suffered at the Oak Creek KinderCare earlier this month.
Hopson said, “My son is not the same baby.”
And is family said there are also unseen injuries. Prince’s grandmother, Desiree, said, “He’s throwing up now, he can barely hold his food down. He’s awake just staring at the wall.”
After two days of vomiting earlier this month, Hopson took Prince to the hospital where he eventually tested positive for cocaine metabolites.
Passion Watson was arrested for possessing cocaine at the KinderCare facility.
Hopson said, “My life is forever changed. I can’t trust anyone with my kids ever again.”
Watson admitted to investigators she “uses cocaine socially” and didn’t know the baggie of cocaine was in her backpack that day.
She said she didn’t know how Prince was exposed to the cocaine but admitted “it was a possibility that he was exposed to the cocaine from her.”
Hopson said, “Every day he’s coming here, I’m thinking he’s safe. And it’s just a million times worse. I can’t imagine how scared he was.”
In a new statement, KinderCare told us “Each of our centers is inspected and monitored on a regular basis” and “our center management team conducts on-going classroom observations to ensure our teachers and facilities meet our own standards.”
A spokesperson told us all teachers and staff must complete a state and federal background check before they’re hired, adding, “Both systems check for a variety of previous convictions that would preclude someone from working with children.”
In 2020, Passion Watson was cited and fined for possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia in Walworth County, but that offense does not disqualify her from working as a caregiver.
Over the past three years, the state’s Department of Children and Families cited the Oak Creek KinderCare for more than 20 violations.
In August of 2022 a staff member was seen “being aggressive with infants and toddlers and “tossed” a child in 3-year-old room.”
Two of the violations involved the supervision of children, including one last September, when “Staff was not positioned to prevent harm to children during an altercation.”
B’Ivory LaMarr is the attorney representing the family. He said, “If he’s confined to a highchair, how did the cocaine get ingested into his system?”
On a public Facebook post, parents and former employees shared concerns about the Oak Creek location.
One woman who said she used to work there posted that she saw “So many violations, but nobody would listen,” later adding “it was ran horrible and dishonest.”
Right now, Passion Watson is charged with one misdemeanor drug count. Two other felony counts were recommended by Oak Creek police but have not been filed at this time.
We reached out to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office to see if a child neglect charge would be filed at some point, but they did not respond.
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