Springgettsbury Township Woman Left Six Children, Infants Unattended At Home Day Care For 20 Minutes To Get More Children

Six children were left unattended, ages two and below, by a Springettsbury Township woman operating a home day care. She left them for 20 minutes to get more children. The woman was identified as 43-year-old Gina M. Henry, who was charged with endangering the welfare of children.

The home day care is located at 500 block of Erlen Drive. The youngest child she left unattended is said to be three months old, YDR.com reported. The incident took place on Nov. 22. Two more children were picked up by Henry at a preschool when she left the six children unattended.

Police officials added that Henry lied to them about having an assistant present during the time she left the children. Her license to operate the day care was also expired for almost a year during the incident.

York Dispatch reported that Henry leaving the children unattended was uncovered when one of the parents of the children left in the day care suspected that there was no one else in the home but the operator. The father and his wife dropped their child at around 9 a.m. on Nov. 22. The father then called his sister to check on the children. By 11 a.m., the sister saw Henry leave the home for 20 minutes and when she came back, she had two children with her.

The sister saw young children and an infant in the basement of the home. The father then arrived and Henry lied about having an assistant who was sick in the bathroom of the home. The father then knocked on the bathroom door but got no response so he called police officials.

When police came, Henry told them that her assistant was very sick, was not wearing clothes and could not come out to talk. Someone was talking in the bathroom but it sounded like the voice came from a cellphone or a baby monitor.

Henry eventually told officials to arrest her then told them the truth later that she had no assistant. She also said that she put her iPad on speaker in the bathroom to make it look like someone was talking. The person talking is said to be the friend of Henry.

A preliminary hearing has not been scheduled yet. But she added that her assistant was really sick that morning so she had to pick up the two children from preschool that morning. Meanwhile, here is another case of a child being left alone at a daycare: