The first of what will be two trials related to the charges filed against the Directors of the Schoolhouse childcare center begins at 8:30 a.m. this morning, June 5 in the 11th Judicial District Courtroom of Judge Brian Green at the Chaffee County Courthouse.
There are two main learning rooms at The Schoolhouse, a nonprofit early childhood learning center that opened in the old Poncha Springs schoolhouse in 2020. Bathrooms for each classroom are in the classrooms themselves. Photo Stephen Hall
Chaffee Childcare Initiative Executive Director Amy Lovato and The Schoolhouse Director Roberta Rodriguez, were each charged over a child’s “pants pulling down” incident in January of this year, and then for delay in reporting the incident. DA Linda’ Stanley’s office determined that this constituted child abuse and issued charges.
The January 24 shutdown of The Schoolhouse was traumatic, with Department of Human Services and Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office arriving at the daycare center, raising questions of overreaction, and infuriating parents. Both Chaffee-County-based District Judges recused themselves form the case, which shifted the cases to District Judge Brian Green, normally based in Fairplay.
This first trial is for Executive Director Amy Lovato. Rodriguez’s lawyer filed to separate the two cases, which was granted, and the child abuse charge against Roberta was dropped. Her trial will be set at a later date and it will focus on the failure to report charge.
It appears that there is a link to Judge Green’s courtroom:
https://www.courts.state.co.us/Courts/District/Custom.cfm?District_ID=11&Page_ID=1050
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