The executive director of the Kidz Life Childcare Ministry, Tonya Rachelle Voris, a 53-year-old woman, was terminated from her position at the end of January. She is now being charged with a felony for the neglect of a dependent as well as a misdemeanor for irresponsible supervision.
Criminal Charges Against Tonya Rachelle Voris
In a report from Fox31 News, around Christmas, one of the victims' parents, Paul Caudill, began to see changes in his three-year-old daughter's behavior. According to the parent, her daughter refused to take any food and frequently grumbled about having headaches. "She would have random outbursts of emotion, and it would always be toward bedtime."
Claudill also said his wife would take their child for a medical test. However, on Wednesday, Feb. 1, Pastor David Faulk of New Life Church in Cumberland, Indiana, talked to him after he dropped off her daughter in the daycare. The pastor explained that one of their employees had given his daughter melatonin. It has come to their awareness that one of their employees has administered melatonin to several children for sixty days.
The Cumberland police indicated in an affidavit that they had questioned the majority of the parents of the 17 children. Several parents disclosed to the investigators that the unauthorized doses had also caused adverse reactions in their children.
According to the affidavit, the police concluded that Vories gave melatonin gummies that forced children to sleep to avoid fussy and problematic toddlers who do not want to sleep during nap time. Voris reportedly admitted to giving melatonin to the children, and one of the victims was only one year old. However, she refused to talk to the investigators about the incident.
Effect of Melatonin to Children
The melatonin sold in drug and health food stores as an over-the-counter supplement is a synthetic version of the hormone naturally produced by the brain to assist an individual in falling asleep. Melatonin contributes to the regulation of circadian clocks. It is responsible for practically every bodily function in addition to regulating sleep and waking cycles.
Based on the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health report, research suggests that melatonin is involved in a variety of bodily processes that are not directly related to sleep. However, these impacts are only partially understood. Dietary melatonin supplements can be derived from animals or microorganisms, yet it is often manufactured synthetically.
Accordingly, more research needs to be done on children that use melatonin. Nonetheless, most children can use typical amounts of melatonin supplements safely for a short period. In addition, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the potential long-term effects of melatonin in children. Since melatonin is a hormone, using melatonin supplements could affect the hormonal development of a child. The effect includes menstrual cycles, puberty, and the overproduction of the hormone prolactin. However, those hormonal effects cannot be confirmed through research.
Furthermore, drowsiness, increased bedwetting, and frequent urination in the evening were some of the possible adverse reactions recorded in children who used melatonin supplements. Children can also experience side effects such as dizziness, headache, and agitation.
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