Former director of State College-area preschool charged with child endangerment
A former director of a State College-area preschool was arraigned Tuesday on a felony child endangerment charge after multiple witnesses told police she grabbed, dragged and restrained children.
Sarah E. Yanda-Santana, 54, of York County, is accused of grabbing and pulling children by their arms and legs, as well as holding them down on cots. At least one child, a 4-year-old, was left with bruises on their wrists, Ferguson Township police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.
Yanda-Santana was identified in the document as the former director of the KinderCare facility at 228 Farmstead Lane. No defense attorney was listed for her. A woman who answered a call to a phone number listed for Yanda-Santana hung up when contacted by a Centre Daily Times reporter.
In an email, a KinderCare spokesperson said they concluded the conduct “did not meet the high standards we hold our employees to.”
A township police detective began investigating in January after receiving a child abuse referral that alleged Yanda-Santana grabbed, dragged and tossed a child around at the preschool.
One witness told the detective Yanda-Santana had issues with “being in rooms where the ratio of children to staff was not correct,” police wrote. After she took over as director in November, the witness told police there were multiple reports about her treatment of children.
In one instance, Yanda-Santana allegedly held children face down on their cots by pushing and holding their backs, police wrote. The witness told the detective it would last several minutes.
The detective said he was also told she twice dragged the 4-year-old into her office and closed the door. The witness said she could hear the child screaming and trying to get out while Yanda-Santana loudly laughed, police wrote.
A second witness said she saw Yanda-Santana pull the child off a stack of cots, causing him to land on his knees.
A third witness told police she had seen “very aggressive” touching by Yanda-Santana. She also told the detective a KinderCare district supervisor told her to report that another child caused the bruises, police wrote.
Yanda-Santana’s last day at KinderCare was Jan. 22, police wrote. In addition to the felony child endangerment charge, Yanda-Santana is also facing a summary harassment charge.
The KinderCare spokesperson said all teachers and staff at the State College center have been retrained in the past six months on proper child safety protocols.
“Nothing is more important to us than the safety and well-being of every child in our care,” they said in an email. “When concerns about the center director were brought to our attention in late January, we immediately began working with authorities to investigate.
“... The person in question has not worked for KinderCare since these allegations came to light and will never work in any of our centers or programs again.”
Yanda-Santana was arraigned Tuesday by District Judge Casey McClain, who released her on $5,000 unsecured bail. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 8.