HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah — A Utah parent is speaking up after three daycare workers who previously worked at Hill Air Force Base were charged last week with simple assault against young children, including toddlers.
Kylee Neal said her son was one of the victims and is still dealing with the effects years later.
Neal said she enrolled her son at the base's daycare because she believed it would be a safe environment.
“I was like, 'Hey, I’m just down the road, I’m going to be super close, I’ll be able to go see him every day for lunch, and it’s on a military base,'” Neal said. “So, I thought it was safe.”
According to charging documents, Karlie Brook Rainey, Patricia Michelle Davis and Allison Shea Ferdon each face separate misdemeanor charges connected to alleged incidents at the daycare.
Court records describe multiple allegations involving young children. In one case, documents allege a worker repeatedly covered a crying child’s face with a pillow and pinned a child in a corner for more than 20 minutes.
Neal said she received a call nearly three years ago from Hill Air Force Base Special Investigations informing her that her son may have been affected.
“My heart sank,” she said. “I had heard about it, and I thought, not my kid. It would never be my kid. I felt comfortable with the staff he had been with.”
She said she soon noticed changes in her son's behavior and development.
“At the time he had stopped developing with speech and motor skills,” Neal said. “I started seeing behavioral problems with him. This occurred shortly after these events had happened.”
Dr. Rene Valles, a child and adolescent psychiatrist with Davis Behavioral Health, said traumatic experiences can affect a child's developing brain, although the impact varies depending on several factors.
“Usually when someone is still a bit younger, their brain is still a little bit more vulnerable to trauma,” Valles said. “But it really depends on the type of trauma it is and how long it has been going on, the extent of it.”
For Neal, the criminal charges represent a step forward after years of uncertainty, but she said she is still seeking answers for her family.
“I’m hoping to get some closure just so that as a family we will be able to move on and heal from this,” she said.
In a statement to FOX 13, Hill Air Force Base said:
“Properly caring for our Airmen and their families is of utmost importance. Our Airmen should have confidence in the care provided at our Child Development Centers. We have fully supported this investigation and will continue to support the legal process. We have also reviewed our processes to ensure appropriate measures are in place to safeguard our children.”The Hill Air Force Base Office of Special Investigations continues to investigate the case.