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Three day care workers were arrested after giving toddlers melatonin gummy bears before nap time.

Kristen Lauletta, 32, Jessica Heyse, 19, and Ashley Helfenbein, 25, from  Illinois, were arrested and each face two counts of child endangerment and two counts of battery, CBS Chicago reported.

Police were called to the Kiddie Junction Daycare Center on Friday afternoon after a manager reported that one of the teachers distributed gummy bears laced with melatonin to a class of 2-year-olds.

The three women told police they didn’t see anything wrong with giving the toddlers the melatonin-laced gummy bears because melatonin is an over-the-counter sleep aid.

“This is just a horrible case of bad judgement,” Des Plaines Police Chief William Kushner told CBS Chicago.

Police Commander, Christopher Mierzwa, told ABC News the bottle of gummies stated they were not to be given to children under the age of 16. Authorities say parents hadn’t given permission for their children to receive melatonin.

“You can’t distribute that without the parents being told …” Mierzwa said.

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  • OMG…..this is really bad. How can they think it was ok.

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  • What a terrible thing to do

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  • OMG, there is so much wrong with this. Drugs, illegal activity, duty of care, poor children, parents who think their children are well looked after, long-term effects. The list goes on. I hope the punishment is suitable.

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  • Wow! How do places like this exist – how long were they getting away with this before the whistle was blown?

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  • These lunatics have no right to work with children!

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  • My goodness, what is going on with these three adults who are RESPONSIBLE for other people’s children??!!

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  • I just shudder to think of the consequences if something went wrong.

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  • Think of the consequences if a child was allergic to it. They may have been charged with attempted murder or murder.
    e.g. If my nephew was given Iboprufen which is in Nurofen, Advil and a few other drugs he would have breathing problems, even stop breathing and need cpr.

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  • How dare they !

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  • It could have been worse… Imagine if they’d used something other than melatonin.

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  • Very bad judgment. Can’t say I haven’t been tempted to do somrthing similar a few times though.

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  • Disgusting! And the reason? To have more time for themselves? It’s a drug, not suitable for kids under 16! And you can’t give it randomly to kids without consulting the parents.

    Reply

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