Day care owner pleads guilty in sudden infant death case

EASTON, Pa. – The owner of a day care centre in Pennsylvania has pleaded guilty to criminal charges in a sudden infant death case.

The Northampton County prosecutor says Sharon Balleck, owner of the former Sharon’s Day Care, pleaded guilty Monday to reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child.

The Department of Human Services ordered the closure of her Lehigh Township business after 3-month-old McKenna Rose Felmly was found unresponsive on the first day at the centre in April 2016. A coroner ruled she died of “sudden unexpected infant death.”

A grand jury investigation found the baby was placed on her stomach in an unsupervised crib located in the back room of the day care.

Balleck could face probation or a short time in jail.