Daycare Owner Drugged Children So She Could Tan And Work Out On The Clock

If you have kids, or ever spent an extended period of time looking after them, you know how exhausting they can be. There are moments when you just wish they would finally lay down and take a nap so you can have some time to yourself.

Whether it's to do a quick workout in the living room, make yourself an actual lunch, or watch something on Netflix that isn't Trolls: The Beat Goes On or Boss Baby, a solid hour and a half nap for a kid can do wonders for their temperament for the rest of the day and your own sanity.

The thing about kids though, is that they don't really care so much about your plans. They're going to do whatever they want to do, whenever they want to do it, and they'll fight for it tooth and nail. For some reason, sleepy-time is a kid's natural enemy.

And because young kids rely on adults for pretty much everything, you can't just give up on them when they won't go to bed, or rage quit and do your own thing. No, you need to be the bigger person (because you literally are) and deal with their tantrum or carry on and tire them out with some fun activities.

What you shouldn't do, under any circumstances, is drug the kid up with some melatonin (in case you needed to be told that), which is what an Oregonian daycare owner did to the children under her supervision.

32-year-old January Neatherlin was sentenced to 21 years and 4 months in prison after pleading guilty to 11 counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment and a count of third-degree assault.

She was arrested after police found seven children, all under the age of five, left alone in the daycare, asleep, after she drugged them with melatonin while she worked out and tanned.

"She repeatedly administered a sleeping agent to a room full of infants, toddlers and children and drove off in her car to fulfill her narcissistic needs. There is no room in our society for monsters like this. January has no respect for human life," one parent told local station KTVZ.

The arrest was just the tip of the iceberg, Neatherlin had not only "roofied" the children at Little Giggles so she pump iron in the middle of the day, but her facility wasn't even a legal one to begin with, as Neatherlin's business license for Little Giggles has been expired since 2012. She also lied about being a registered nurse.

But Neatherlin's alleged violence against the children at Little Giggles is what's probably the most troubling aspect of this rage-inducing story.

On January 21st, 2014, an 11-month-old baby was rushed from the daycare to the hospital; the child was suffering from bleeding and swelling in their head. The symptoms all pointed to the baby being shaken, something that Neatherlin denied at the time.

She insisted that the baby fell from a chair while she was distracted with a phone call, but the judge didn't buy it, saying it didn't match the evidence in the case.

Neatherlin was also accused of accidentally burning a child with hot milk after heating a bottle up in the microwave. Her negligence allegedly caused blisters on a child's mouth and shoulders, something Neatherlin chalked up to "spider bites" when the girl's mother pressed the daycare owner about the injuries.

Devin Lewis a sergeant at the Bend, Oregon Police Department described the scene at Little Giggles as "shocking."

At the daycare, a child, still damp with vomit, was asleep. When police first entered Neatherlin's home, they had feared the child was choking.

Statements from other parents against Neatherlin during her sentencing pointed to other signs of neglect from diaper rash to malnourishment.

Police were tipped off to Neatherlin's illegal activities by a former boyfriend of hers, along with a former roommate. She informed parents that children weren't allowed to be picked up from 11am-2pm, which was designated "nap time," AKA exercise and tan time.

Neatherlin apologized to parents in court with tears streaming down her face, admitting that she failed them and she let them all down.

"Everybody makes mistakes, but not everybody takes responsibility for those mistakes. With that said, I hope the court and the parents accept my apology. I made a very poor call, and it has forever changed my life and even ended it."

Neatherlin's rap sheet goes back even further, she has prior felony-theft convictions under the aliases January Livsey and January Brooks. How a convicted felon was able to own and operate a childcare center for so many years, undetected, is horrifying.

People were understandably shocked by Neatherlin's behavior.

While others couldn't believe that child molesters and rapists got lesser sentences than she did.

What do you think? (h/t bend bulletin)