Four individuals working at a home daycare in Manchester, New Hampshire, have been accused of putting melatonin in children’s food. The owner and three employees allegedly added the substance to the children’s lunches while they were at the daycare on Amory Street, as reported by WMUR on Thursday.
The suspects include the daycare’s manager, 52-year-old Sally Dreckmann, and staffers Traci Innie, Kaitlin Filardo, and Jessica Foster, all facing ten counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Melatonin is a hormone that the body naturally produces to signal sleepiness, but supplement forms are lab-made and used to help with sleep disorders. The unlicensed daycare in question was reported to have been caring for more children than allowed by state law.
Tips from individuals who had been inside the daycare led to a police investigation, resulting in the suspects turning themselves in and being scheduled for a court date in June.
Neighbors and law enforcement expressed concern over the situation, emphasizing the potential risks to the children involved. Thankfully, none of the children required medical attention as a result of the incident.
