Former day care worker charged with criminal abuse of six children

A teacher who once worked at a Frankfort child care center has been indicted on six counts of criminal abuse and a co-worker has been charged with failure to report abuse, Kentucky State Police said.

An indictment returned by a Franklin County grand jury last week says Tiara C. Broce, 22, of Frankfort, “wantonly abused another person or permitted another person … to be abused and thereby caused torture, cruel confinement or cruel punishment” to six children.

Broce, a former teacher at The Learning Tree Academy on C. Michael Davenport Boulevard in Frankfort, allegedly forced children to sit, causing imprints on their bodies, and allegedly hit others on the back of their heads, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Zach Becker said. All the alleged victims are 2 or younger, he said.

The Learning Tree Academy involved is not The Learning Tree Christian Academy on Twilight Trail in Frankfort, Becker said. The two are not affiliated.

Lisa G. Coffey, 52, of Frankfort, an employee of the center on Davenport Boulevard, was charged last week with failure to report child abuse or neglect, a misdemeanor, according to court records. Coffey is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 6 in Franklin District Court.

In November, state police responded to a complaint at The Learning Tree Academy and identified other victims after speaking with employees and several parents. The other incidents allegedly happened in February 2017, according to the indictment.

Broce has pleaded not guilty and is free after posting a $2,500 bond. A judge said she is to undergo random drug screens and banned contact with the victims or their families, according to court records.

Each count of second-degree criminal abuse is punishable by one to five years in prison.

State police said the investigation is ongoing.

This story was originally published February 1, 2018 at 2:05 PM with the headline "Former day care worker charged with criminal abuse of six children."