Posted on 08/14/2003 5:28:15 AM PDT by GailA
http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/local_news/article/0,1426,MCA_437_2178562,00.html
Day care worker abused 3 kids, police say
Battery, rape charged; 17 other cases viewed
By Aimee Edmondson and Chris Conley edmondson@gomemphis.com conley@gomemphis.com August 13, 2003
A 30-year-old Memphis day care worker has been charged with sexually abusing three children in his care.
Ivan Leonard Ward, of 1739 LaPaloma, was held late Tuesday in the Shelby County Jail on a $300,000 bond, charged with two counts of sexual battery and one count of rape of a child.
Ward is accused of sexually abusing three children at two day care centers between July 2000 and April 2003.
State child welfare officials also are investigating whether Ward sexually abused 17 other children.
The first charge stems from a July 2000 incident at Joyland Day Care and Learning Center, 4439 Elvis Presley, and involved a 10-year-old boy, police said.
After a parent complained, Joyland fired Ward and called the Department of Children’s Services.
DCS investigated, believed the allegations to be true and alerted Memphis police and the district attorney’s office, spokesman Carla Aaron said.
But Ward was never charged, which left his record clean when another day care center did a background check in April 2001.
Shelby County Dist. Atty. Bill Gibbons said Tuesday evening he’s looking into why Ward wasn’t charged then.
The other two instances happened later at the Merryland Child Care and Development Center, 2549 Carnes, police said.
Ward was placed there in September 2000 by a temporary employment agency.
He was hired full time at Merryland the next April, and passed a criminal background check, Department of Human Services (DHS) records show.
Sexual abuse allegations surfaced again this spring.
Ward, described as an excellent teacher, gave taped and typewritten statements to police after his Aug. 1 arrest.
Police say Ward told them he put his hands in the 10-year-old boy’s pants pockets and fondled him.
The two more recent cases were at the Merryland center, the charges say.
Ward said he unzipped an 8-year-old girl’s pants, put his hand "inside her panties and fondled her," according to the police affidavit.
The document also said Ward admitted to fondling another 8-year-old boy, and "performed oral sex on him on two separate occasions."
The incidents occurred in the day care center’s back office, police said.
The exact dates of the offenses weren’t available, but Merryland director Lavada Herman said she notified DCS and police when a parent complained April 16, 2003, and fired Ward the next day.
Upset parents gathered at the center Tuesday, demanding to know why the Joyland allegations weren’t discovered when he was hired at Merryland.
"How could he get another job at a day care?" asked parent Tamika Berry, who said her 8-year-old son was abused by Ward.
She cried in the arms of another mother, Stephanie Sherrod, a former Merryland employee.
Sherrod, who worked alongside Ward for two years, said her 9-year-old son also fell victim to abuse.
"My son told me he touched him through his clothing in the back office," she said.
Parent Nancy Taylor said her 10-year-old often came home with candy or dollar bills - gifts from Ward.
Her son said he told his mom after the touching became more frequent.
The boy said he became frustrated with the fondling and that Ward yelled at him after learning he had told his mother.
Late Tuesday, officials with DHS, the state agency that regulates day care centers, and DCS, the state’s child welfare agency, were sorting out what went wrong.
Since Ward wasn’t charged with a crime, he had no criminal background.
Department of Human Services officials said the Department of Children’s Services should have sent them a form indicating that the allegations were founded. That form isn’t in DHS records.
"That’s what we are looking into right now," said DHS spokesman Michelle Mowery Johnson. "Why wasn’t that form filed?"
Her DCS counterpart said her agency wants to know if procedures were followed.
"I don’t know if we shared that or not," DCS’s Aaron said. "This has brought to light how the two departments must share information with each other."
Though he wasn’t familiar with the case, Gibbons said if DCS turned in a report, his office would have charged Ward — if they had a case that could be proved.
"I’m just not in a position to answer that today," he said.
- Aimee Edmondson: 529-2773
- Chris Conley: 529-2595
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