HaLEE MILLER - 14 months + others - Daycare - Salt Lake City UT

Kami Tollefson was charged with three counts of
child abuse for allegedly hurting three children who were in her care at three
different times.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney's office filed
the charges on Monday afternoon. Tollefson was arrested at her Murray home
where she reportedly provides daycare to several children according to Murray
police detective Kenny Bass.

Charging documents state that Tollefson
allegedly injured a 16-month-old boy on June 24, 2008. The court documents say
that when the child's parents dropped him off at Tollefson's house for daycare
"he was in good health." When the parent picked the boy up, he was "pale and
was groaning in pain."

According to the charging documents, Tollefson
allegedly told detectives that the boy fell backwards. A doctor determined that
the boy suffered "massive blunt force trauma to his abdomen." The doctor said
as a result, the boy's pancreas was damaged and part of the pancreas had to be
removed. The doctor also said had the boy not been take to the emergency room,
he would have died.

The charges also state that on April 13, 2009,
another parent dropped off her 18-month-old boy at Tollefson's house for
daycare. The child developed what Tollefson allegedly called a "rash" on the
side of his face. A doctor later concluded that the boy had hemorrhages on his
neck and face that "were consistent with attempted suffocation or strangulation"
by an adult person.

Bass said both of the above incidents were
investigated by police, but when officers presented the cases to the District
Attorney's Office, it was determined there was not enough evidence to file
charges. Everything changed after 14-month-old HaLee Miller was hospitalized on
February 12th of this year.

That day, HaLee's mother Shandee picked her
daughter up from Tollefson's house. Shandee said her little girl was not
excited to see her as usual. Shandee notice her daughter was lethargic and also
had very dilated pupils. Shandee said HaLee had been throwing up for days prior
and threw up again that day on the ride home.

Shandee had taken her
baby to the pediatrician several times before, but the doctor ran tests and said
the vomiting was likely due to a flu or virus.

When HaLee threw up
again on the ride home from the daycare, mom pulled over and called 911. Soon
HaLee was flown to Primary Children's Medical Center where doctors told Shandee
and her husband Steven Miller that their baby had a head injury with internal
bleeding. HaLee also had retinal hemorrhages due to "violent rotational force
being applied to (HaLee's ) head." The baby's parents say doctors told them she
was a victim of shaken baby syndrome. "She's an angel. She's a good baby,
there's no excuse for this," said an emotional Miller.

HaLee spent five
days in the hospital. Doctors told her parents she might not see again and it
was not clear how the head injury would affect her walking or other behaviors.
On Monday, HaLee was happy and behaving like a normal toddler again. Her
parents say her vision is getting better all the time.

Tollefson was
booked into the Salt Lake county jail. Police say two of her own young children
lived with her. It was presumed they were placed in custody of
relatives.

Bass said Tollefson's daycare was not licensed, but it was not
clear if that was because she was operating illegally or because she was exempt
from licensing due to a small number of children in her care.

A
representative from the Utah Department of Health said in the past, the Bureau
of Child Care Licensing investigated a complaint about Tollefson's preschool
which she also ran out of her house. It is not clear if any action resulted
after that complaint.