A Christian County jury returned guilty verdicts Thursday against two former daycare workers at the First United Methodist Church tasked with their care.
The six-man, six-woman jury needed four-and-a-half hours to return its verdict just before 5 pm Thursday. The sentencing hearing will begin Friday morning at 10.
Allison Simpson was charged with 30 counts of first-degree criminal abuse of a child, while Nina Morgan was on trial for two counts of the same charge. The charges are the result of a Hopkinsville Police Department investigation concerning reported abuse involving small children in their care in December 2018 and January 2019.
Simpson was found guilty of 12 charges of Criminal Abuse – First Degree, which is a Class C Felony punishable between 5 and 10 years in prison.
She was found guilty of three counts of Criminal Abuse – Second Degree, which is a Class D felony punishable between one and five years in prison, and 12 counts of Criminal Abuse – 3rd Degree — a misdemeanor.
Simpson was found not guilty on three counts of Criminal Abuse – Third Degree.
Morgan was found guilty of a misdemeanor Criminal Abuse – 3rd Degree charge and saw her second charge of criminal abuse dropped.
In closing arguments Thursday morning, both defense attorneys highlighted two main arguments with the 12-person jury — the actions of their clients did not cause serious physical injury which is a required element of their charges and the prosecution failed to meet the burden of proof in their case.
Eric Bearden, the attorney for Simpson, said the acts shown by the prosecution on the church’s video surveillance system didn’t show any serious physical injuries and asked the jury to consider the state of mind and the intent, or lack thereof, of Simpson.
click to download audioHe also asked the jury if the actions of Simpson were so egregious and were actual abuse as two former co-workers claimed, why didn’t they step in immediately and stop it.
Meanwhile, Michael Thompson, the attorney for Morgan, questioned why there were no immediate reports to the police department or trips to the hospital if their children were indeed abused
Special prosecutor Blake Chambers told the jury the charges were indeed serious and the reason why the incident fit the elements of the crime was due to the age of the children involved.
Before the jury began its deliberations, Judge John Atkins explained to them the jury instruction sheet on their verdict options would be lengthy and include the option of convicting on any of the three degrees of criminal abuse.
click to download audioTwice during deliberations Thursday afternoon, the jury returned to the courtroom to view videos placed into evidence of the reported abuse.
