Judge to day-care operator: 'You're really lucky you didn't kill them'

A baby with a broken arm.

A subsequent substantiation of neglect by the Indiana Department of Child Services.

Another child rushed to the hospital not breathing.

Years of orders to stop operating an illegal day care.

Marion Criminal Court Judge Mark Stoner said Stephanie Gribble had plenty of warning signs that her conduct in her unlicensed home day care was putting children at risk. But she didn't stop. Not until last February, when the Indianapolis woman was arrested after drugging five children — four so severely that they had to be hospitalized.

"You're really lucky you didn't kill them," Stoner told Gribble. "You realize that?"

On Friday, Stoner sentenced Gribble to 10 years in prison — the maximum term allowed under the plea agreement that Gribble's attorney, Jim Snyder, had reached with the Marion County prosecutor's office. Her prison sentence will be followed by three years of work release and seven years of probation.

Gribble, 38, pleaded guilty in November to six felony counts of neglect of a dependent. On Friday, she read a lengthy letter to the judge and parents of the children who had attended her day care.

"I'm very sorry to everyone I hurt by this," Gribble said. "I hurt every day for the pain I have caused."

Most of Gribble's letter focused on her mother's poor health, her own health conditions and her desire to spend time with her children. She said she had never been out of work for more than three weeks.

But Gribble's statement never mentioned the fact that she had drugged children. It didn't address why she had done so, what drugs she had used or how much she had given the children — omissions that the judge criticized her for during the hearing.

"I hear no acceptance of responsibility," Stoner said. "After all this, you still cannot admit to yourself what you did to those children. You are not remorseful."

Parents of the children who attended Gribble's day care sobbed in court on Friday.

Laressa McGregor said she hadn't been sure her 11-month-old daughter would live.

When McGregor's sister picked up the little girl from day care on Feb. 12, 2014, she was limp, appeared drunk and wasn't responding when they spoke to her, court records state. She grunted and swayed back and forth, her lip hanging down as bubbles of spit emerged from her mouth.

McGregor brought her daughter to the hospital for treatment. The little girl's condition improved, and she was released.

"Sometimes I feel like I failed as a mother," McGregor tearfully testified Friday. "If she couldn't handle my daughter, I wish she would've just called."

Another parent, Tiffany Tutrow, testified Friday that she is convinced her 3-month-old daughter was drugged by Gribble. Her daughter had seizures while attending Gribble's day care in late 2013. Doctors at the time diagnosed her with epilepsy and prescribed anti-seizure medication.

But once Tutrow learned that Gribble had been arrested for drugging children, she took her back to the doctor. The doctors weaned the little girl off the medication and the seizures did not return.

"My daughter is not epileptic," Tutrow testified Friday. "There was a cause for her seizures."

Deputy Prosecutor Kristina Korobov said Gribble was more concerned about herself than following the law.

"If the law doesn't suit Stephanie Gribble's purposes," Korobov said, "she just works around it."

A Star investigation published in November shows that state officials expressed serious concerns about the safety of the children under Gribble's care long before she was arrested on Feb. 14, 2014. They found her violating state law at least 13 times. More than 200 pages of government records and emails reveal state officials knew Gribble routinely watched more than twice as many children as allowed under law, moved from home to home and ignored repeated warnings to stop operating an illegal day care.

Yet she continued unabated. In fact, Gribble was still operating an illegal day care more than 14 months after a judge ordered her to stop.

State law requires anyone watching more than five unrelated children to be licensed. Gribble was watching 11 children on Feb. 12, the day four children were hospitalized. Initially, medical personnel suspected head injuries. Doctors later concluded they overdosed on a cold medicine or Risperidone, a medication used to treat schizophrenia and other conditions.

Gribble's 9-year-old son was prescribed Risperidone, according to court records. Police said Gribble had refilled the prescription for that medication on Feb. 9, 2014. The bottle, which held a 60-day supply, was empty four days later.

It is unclear whether the children will suffer any long-term effects from being drugged.

Detective Grant Melton, with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, testified Friday that Gribble had visited pornographic websites on her cellphone for about 30 minutes while she was watching children the day they were drugged.

As part of the plea agreement, Gribble agreed not to change her name and not to work for, own or operate a child care business. She also cannot have contact with any children other than her own during the 20-year sentence.

In return for Gribble's guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the other criminal charges pending against her.

Parents of the children who were drugged said they are "satisfied" with the outcome of Gribble's case.

"Life wouldn't be enough for what she's done to our kids," Tutrow said. "But I'm very satisfied."

Call Star reporter Marisa Kwiatkowski at (317) 444-6135. Follow her on Twitter at @IndyMarisaK.

How to choose a safe day care

•Ask whether the day care is licensed, registered or unlicensed. That will determine how often the day care is inspected, if ever.

•Count children. If there are more than six unrelated children, the day care must be licensed. Going through the process is not good enough.

•Ask for a copy of the license.

•Then check state regulations to see what type of health and safety practices are required.

•Check if the day care is in the Paths to Quality program — the state's voluntary quality rating and evaluation system that ranks day cares on a scale of 1 to 4.

•Make sure you feel comfortable. Make unannounced visits and stay as long as you can.

•Ask who else will be in the home.

•Check with parents who have used the day care.

•Use the state's Carefinder website at https://secure.in.gov/apps/fssa/carefinder/index.html to review inspection, complaint and enforcement records for each licensed or registered day care. The Indiana Association for Child Care Resource and Referral can help parents can help parents find a day care facility. The number is (800) 299-1627.

•Once you select a day care, it is important to continuously re-evaluate your choice. Make unannounced visits.

Sources: State officials, the Indiana Association of Child Care Resource and Referral and Child Care Answers

If you see a problem in a day care

Call the Office of Early Childhood and Out of School Learning hotline at (877) 511-1144.

If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected

Call the Department of Child Services Child Abuse Hotline at (800) 800-5556.