A trans-identified male in Kentucky has reached a plea deal after being charged with sexually abusing a baby and will avoid prison so long as he meets certain conditions. Maria Childers, a former daycare worker, hired a prominent trans activist lawyer to represent him in the sickening case.
As previously reported by Reduxx, Childers was arrested in February of 2023 after the Department of Community Based Services (DCBS) received an anonymous tip detailing an alleged incident of abuse that had occurred in November of 2022 at Explore Learning Academy. The tip, reportedly written by one of Childers’ co-workers, accused him of making inappropriate comments towards an infant while changing the child’s diaper, and touching the baby inappropriately.
Reduxx has now obtained court records detailing the full complaint against Childers, which showed that he was accused of both physical and sexual abuse while employed at the daycare.
Following the receipt of the initial anonymous complaint, a DCBS case worker and a police officer from the Paducah Police Department went to the daycare on February 8, 2023, to interview witnesses. After speaking to a number of staff, they were able to corroborate the anonymous report.
According to witness testimony, a co-worker had asked Childers for assistance in changing an infant’s diaper. While Childers was cleaning the baby’s genitals, the co-worker noticed that the infant appeared to be in distress and asked Childers if he was hurting the baby. She then witnessed Childers rub the infant’s genitals in a “circular motion,” while saying “that was her clit area and she likes it. It just made her day.”
While Childers was reported to management at the Academy, he was only given a “write up.” Police later learned that Childers had also been accused by other co-workers of leaving the children in high chairs for “hours” without care.
After being taken to the police station for questioning, Childers initially claimed he had not changed the infant’s diaper at all. He later admitted to having done so after an officer presented him with evidence in the form of a text that he had sent to the daycare’s director confirming the baby’s diaper had been changed. He then tried to deny he had ever said anything inappropriate, but admitted he often said things that were “taken out of context.”
Childers was placed under arrest and charged with one count of 1st Degree Sexual Abuse of a Victim Under 12 and three counts of 1st Degree Criminal Abuse of a Child Under 12. He was then booked at the McCracken County Jail.
There has been some confusion over the spelling of his last name, with the courts, police, and his social feeds having different spellings alternating between “Childers” and “Childres.” The Kentucky Court of Justice has his name spelled “Childres,” but his own signature and defense documents read “Childers.”
While Childers was initially marked as a “male” by both police and the jail, internal documents obtained by Reduxx reveal that his recorded sex was later switched to “female” by the McCracken County Jail.
Court records show that just one month after being booked on the felony charges, Childers privately retained trans activist lawyer Madison Leach to represent him.
Leach, a male who began identifying as a “woman” seven years ago, was the first openly transgender candidate to seek public office in western Kentucky when he ran as a Democrat for the Calloway County attorney seat. Leach recently threatened to leave Kentucky over Senate Bill 150, which would make it optional for public school teachers to use a student’s preferred pronouns.
After taking on the case, Leach submitted a motion to reduce Childers’ bond, complaining that he did not have access to estrogen while in solitary confinement at McCracken County Jail.
After some negotiation with the court, the motion was ultimately approved, and Childers’ bond was reduced from $100,000 to $5,000 surety. The bond conditions included no contact with children and to remain away from the daycare where he had been employed. Childers was released from custody in January of 2024.
On January 29, 2024, Childers struck an apparent deal with prosecutors. In exchange for a guilty plea, his charge of 1st Degree Sexual Abuse of a Victim Under 12 was amended to Class A Misdemeanor Sexual Misconduct, and the remaining abuse charges were dropped.
Judge Joseph Roark handed Childers a 12-month penalty, but withheld sentencing and imposed a conditional discharge for 6 months after considering his time in pre-trial detention as time he already spent in prison.
If Childers abides by the conditions set by the court during the 6-month period, he will not serve any prison time at all, and may not even receive a criminal record.
UPDATE 02/12/24: Article has been corrected to clarify that Childers’ time spent in pre-trial detention was considered towards his sentence, resulting in no jail time following his guilty plea.
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