The defense attorney for a former Scottdale day care worker accused of assaulting a child said he believes there is surveillance video from the center that will exonerate the defendant.
“My client has been working in this field for years, has never had any problems. … She had no intention whatsoever of causing harm to a child on this day,” said attorney Tim Andrews. “We believe once we get all the evidence in this case that a jury’s going to agree with us.”
Krista Ondish, 58, of Madison waived her right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday on charges of aggravated assault, simple assault and child endangerment. She was charged Sept. 19 by Scottdale police with shoving a 4-year-old child to the ground and allowing another young charge to hit the child as a disciplinary measure. Police said the assault happened Sept. 5 at New Hope Preschool and Childcare Center on Pittsburgh Street.
Ondish is accused of pinning the child to the corner of a room in the day care center as a timeout, court papers said. The incident was captured on surveillance video.
Scottdale police Assistant Chief Matthew Zelenak said the child was diagnosed with a mild concussion. He said outside district court Wednesday that he wasn’t familiar with any other video to which Andrews might be referring.
“The video that I’ve seen that exists, I really don’t know how you would excuse the defendant,” he said.
Ondish did not intend to hurt the child involved or any other child, Andrews said. She’s free on $50,000 bail.
“We’re going to have to deal with the intent matter and those things when we go to trial, when, in fact, that occurs,” he said.
The center remains in operation, Zelenak said. It was last inspected in June, according to state records.
