An employee of a fishermen's daycare convicted of assault and battery on children

FISHERS, Ind. — A former Fishers daycare employee, accused of physically abusing children in her care in 2023, will spend 9 years in prison.

Molly Taxter pleaded guilty in May to eight counts of battery on a child. As part of a plea deal, 11 other charges were dismissed.

In addition to her prison sentence, she was sentenced to 3 years of community prison and 3 years of probation.

Taxter was emotional in court, crying and made a statement of remorse.

“I can't change what I've done and I've done some truly horrible things that others now have to live with because of something I did. I've also caused so much emotional pain and I'm so sorry. It's shameful what I did and I really can't imagine how scary it was for the children and their families given everything I know now and the horrible harm. that I caused, I promise to fix it and prevent it from happening again I will work on my mental health and I will no longer work with children,” Taxler said.

On March 16, 2023, officers began investigating after a parent reported their child was returning home from Kiddie Academy daycare, located at 11703 Olio Road. The parent claimed her child had a handprint on his right leg.

The mother told police she contacted the daycare and it viewed a video showing an employee touching the child inappropriately.

According to court documents, the video showed Taxter pushing the child's head onto a changing table, slamming her to the ground and covering her face with a blanket.

The daycare operator reportedly told police that Taxter saw them viewing the video in the office and returned to her room. Court documents say the homeowner told detectives that Taxter told her “she might have done this.” Taxter allegedly told the owner she was frustrated because the child was crying a lot.

Court documents allege that when the homeowner asked Taxter about the video, Taxter responded, “there's more of that.”

The daycare owner fired Taxter the same day, police said.

Police reviewed surveillance video from the daycare that allegedly showed Taxter throwing children onto the concrete during recess, pushing children to the ground in the daycare room, dropping children in the locker room, dragging, shoving, swinging, kicking, spanking, hitting, smacking and grabbing children aggressively. The video also appears to show Taxter covering the children's heads with blankets when they are not lying down or otherwise behaving during naps.

Taxter was arrested on April 25, 2023.

Kiddie Academy provided the following statement to 13News on Thursday:

We are aware of the recent conviction of a former employee of the previous owners of this location. The incident in question occurred in March 2023, prior to our acquisition of the company in July 2023. We were informed of the matter by the former owner of the Academy and were informed that the team of management cooperated fully with the Academy's investigation. time of the incident. We support the efforts of law enforcement and the courts and hope that the recent meeting between the former employee and the parents of the children involved will bring closure to this matter.

Our team is dedicated to making sound leadership decisions, responding quickly to concerns, aligning with local licensing agencies, and ensuring that the trust of each family is earned and maintained.

We are an independent, privately owned local business and parents ourselves who care deeply about our children and our community. There is nothing more important than creating a nurturing and safe environment for the children in our care and their families – it is our life's commitment.