LATHROP – The California State Department of Social Services has revoked the home-based child care license of Kristy Sayles.
The decision, handed down by Administrative Law Judge Marilyn A. Woollard of the Office of Administrative Hearings, has good and bad news for the former mayor.
The bad news is that Sayles’ appeal in response to the state’s legal action late last year to close her business was denied resulting in the revocation of her child care license. The judge’s decision in a copy of the legal ruling provided to the Manteca Bulletin is dated June 15, 2011.
According to the judge’s decision, “Sayles has violated the rules and regulations of the California Child Care Facilities Act. Specifically, she has engaged in conduct that is inimical to the health, morals, welfare, or safety of either an individual in or receiving services from the facility or the people of this state” by the physical abuse of a child, “by failing to protect” two children from abuse by her former husband, Tom, and by “violating the personal rights of children in (her) care by repeatedly exposing them to mental abuse and/or (intimidation), and by “violating safety regulations” as set forth in the factual findings and legal conclusions of the investigation.
The state also denied a probationary license for Sayles because she “has engaged in a serious and chronic pattern of conduct” in violation of state law.
According to the judge’s decision, Sayles “has exposed children in (her) care to intimidation and potentially placed those children at greater risk, based upon her knowledge of Mr. Sayles’s volatile verbal and physical conduct with her own children. This knowledge was documented in police records as early as 2006.”
The legal judgment then goes to add, “Respondent has ignored her own children’s consistent reports of inappropriate behavior by Mr. Sayles. Although now divorced, respondent continues to live in the home owned by Mr. Sayles and the nature of their current relationship is unknown. Respondent is presently unable to control the very volatile conduct of her biological children in the facility. At this time, these factors pose a substantial risk that child care children will be placed at risk if respondent is allowed to maintain her facility under a probationary license.”
Good news for former mayor
The good news for the former mayor is that, while the state revoked her business license, the same legal decision states that she “may reapply for licensure with the department.”
The other good news is that the judge’s decision does not forbid her from acquiring a job involving the care of children.
According to the state’s decision, Sayles “has a history of providing positive care to children in need. There is no evidence that respondent would pose a danger to department clients if she worked in other facilities with, and in the presence of, department clients.”
Sayles’ home-based business was shut down by the state in October last year based on two alleged incidents of physical child abuse at the home which resulted in visible injuries. The incidents cited happened on March 22, 2008 and Oct. 4, 2010. The latter incident resulted in the arrest of the former mayor’s husband, Tom.
Child abuse alleged
The state department made the move in November 2010 to shut down Sayles’ child care business and to request that her business license be revoked based on two alleged incidents of child abuse in her home. The reported abuse cases did not involve any of the children enrolled in the day care, according to the state. Also, according to the state, Sayles’ child care operation was licensed in June 30, 2000 for a maximum of 14 children.
The two physical abuse incidents cited in the complaint involved a young son of Sayles from a previous marriage. The first alleged incident occurred on March 22, 2008 with the second one occurring on Oct. 4, 2010 while the mayor was presiding over a city council meeting.
After the mayor reported the October incident to police, Thomas Sayles was arrested on Oct. 5 and booked into San Joaquin County Jail.
