A 25-year-old Kentucky daycare worker, who “identifies” as a “transgender woman,” has been arrested and charged with sexually abusing a baby, according to reports.
The suspect, “Maria Childers,” was charged with raping the infant at the daycare center where he works.
According to the police, Childers was caught sexually abusing the baby while he was supposed to be changing the infant’s diaper.
“Maria Childers, 25, had been employed at the Explore Learning Academy in Paducah, Kentucky when the abuse is said to have occurred last November,” Reduxx reports.
“Police became involved in February of this year after the Kentucky Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) received an anonymous tip from someone working inside the academy.”
Witnesses said that Childers allegedly made inappropriate comments toward the child while changing the baby’s diaper.
He then proceeded to touch the infant inappropriately, according to police.
“A Paducah police officer and DCBS staffer went to Explore Learning Academy on February 8 and spoke with a witness who corroborated the details of the anonymous report,” local news network WPSD Local 6 reports.
“Police also interviewed the director of the Academy, who appeared to have been aware of Childers’ behavior with the baby, but had only given him a ‘write up’ for making inappropriate comments towards the infant.”
Childers initially denied changing the baby’s nappy under police questioning, but later had to acknowledge he had done so when presented with a text message he had sent to the daycare’s director confirming the baby’s diaper had been changed.
The suspect has been charged with first-degree sexual abuse of a victim under the age of 12.
He is currently housed in the McCracken County Jail, where his sex has been recorded as male.
Childers had his bond set at $100,000 and he is expected in court for arraignment on March 23.
Facebook photos show Childers wearing a blue Alice in Wonderland dress in a school classroom.
In one of the photos, a child is also visible.
This is not the first time that a transgender-identified individual has sought to obtain a job that facilitates their abuse of children.
In 2019, it was revealed that the Houston Public Library allowed a registered sex offender to read to children as part of Drag Queen Story Hour.
One of the program’s drag queens, 32-year-old Alberto Garza, was convicted of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old boy in 2008.
In 2021, the former head of the Cream City Foundation, which sponsors Drag Queen Story Hour in Milwaukee, was arrested on charges of possessing child pornography.
The following year, a Pennsylvania drag queen performer was arrested and charged with multiple counts of possessing child pornography after he shared at least 135 videos and pictures of minors engaged in obscene acts.
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