McKees Rocks woman charged with mistreating toddlers at McCandless day care

McCandless Police have accused the director of Gloworms Academy of mistreating five toddlers at the day care.

Melissa Marie Populo, 38, of McKees Rocks faces five counts of endangering the welfare of children. She is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.

A Gloworms Academy employee contacted McCandless police at 10 p.m. April 15 regarding suspected child abuse, police wrote in court papers. The employee told police she was watching videos from the classroom from April 12 and saw Populo strike a 14-month-old student in the face for not eating, the complaint said.

On April 23, police and state investigators went to Gloworms Academy and talked with Populo, the complaint said. Authorities told Populo they were there because they received a ChildLine report from a mandated reporter.

When asked by authorities, Populo immediately denied the allegations of striking the toddler for not eating and said that she would never hit a child, and that she loves being around children, the complaint said. Authorities then told Populo there was reportedly a video of the incident and asked if it could have appeared she struck a child. Populo responded that the child never wants to eat his food so she high-fives him after every bite, to encourage him to eat, the complaint said. Populo was unable to recall a specific incident where she was frustrated that the toddler wouldn’t eat, the complaint said.

A witness, who wasn’t identified in the complaint, showed police videos from her cellphone of incidents regarding Populo, the complaint said. One video from April 12 showed Populo walking up to a 1-year-old in a highchair and slapping his face with an open hand, the complaint said.

The witness showed another video from April 12 where Populo is seen picking up a different 1-year-old student by her left ankle and carrying her upside down, the complaint said. The witness didn’t observe any marks on the child, but the child started crying, the complaint said.

Another incident, the witness told police, occurred April 10 where Populo is accused of shoving a pacifier in a toddler’s mouth, causing him to bleed, the complaint said. When authorities asked Populo about this allegation, she said that child bumped his mouth two days prior which resulted in a bloody lip, the complaint said. She said that on April 10, she placed the toddler’s pacifier in his mouth and the original affected area started to bleed.

On April 24, police obtained 14 videos from the witness and were shown to a doctor at UPMC Children’s Hospital child advocacy center. The doctor determined several of the videos showed behavior where five children at the day care were “at risk of injury,” the complaint said.

“The compilation of videos is striking in the number of distinct events, the cruelty of the actions of (Populo) and the lack of empathy shown by (Populo) to the toddlers,” the complaint said. “That these events occurred on video is even more striking.”

An attorney for Populo wasn’t listed in court records. A preliminary hearing is slated July 17 before District Judge Matthew J. Brungo.