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Daycare operator sentenced

A Forest Lakes woman who pleaded guilty to child cruelty in May for neglecting more than a dozen kids at an unlicensed daycare will serve two years in jail.

“I would like to publicly apologize to all the parents,” said a tearful Kathy Yowell-Rohm, before a judge pronounced her sentence September 7 in Albemarle Circuit Court. “Please know that I have always, always loved your children.”

When police were called to her home last December, they found approximately 16 infants and toddlers, some strapped in urine-soaked chairs and swings, and almost all of them with dirty diapers.

About 10 parents of the children Yowell-Rohm cared for were present in the courtroom, and prosecutor Darby Lowe said one of them wrote in a victim impact statement that learning what happened at that daycare was “one of the hardest days of [their] life.”

Friends and family of Yowell-Rohm, who wore a gray blazer and her blonde hair wound tightly in a bun, also packed the courthouse. Her sister, Kimberly Maynard, spoke about the “fabulous” marriage, “model family,” and “nice home” the defendant once had.

“People were begging for her to watch their children because she had such a stellar reputation,” Maynard said.

But she learned of her sister’s secret struggle with alcohol and other substances after Yowell-Rohm’s recent separation from her husband.

“She, in my view, was a social drinker,” said Maynard. “I know differently now.”

After what Maynard called “the football incident,” when Yowell-Rohm assaulted an EMT who was tending to a patient in critical care at the November 2017 UVA vs. Virginia Tech game at Scott Stadium and tried to get into the ambulance with the patient, Maynard said, “that was so crazily uncharacteristic of any rational person, we knew it had to be more than just alcohol.”

Yowell-Rohm has since worked her way through every treatment program at the local jail and received treatment at the Farley Center in Williamsburg, according to her attorney, Rhonda Quagliana.

Quagliana argued that felony convictions in the “very public” trial were punishment enough. Judge Humes Franklin sentenced Yowell-Rohm to five years with four suspended for felony cruelty or injury to a child, three years with two suspended for assaulting the EMT, and 12 months with all suspended for operating her home daycare without a license.

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In brief: Books of August 11-12, stormy weather, babysitter’s rehab and more

Charlottesville writes back

Like many Charlottesvillians, the folks at the University of Virginia Press were shocked by the events of last August. “As publishers, we felt the best thing we could do in response is publish books,” says director Mark Saunders.

Now out are Summer of Hate by former C-VILLE Weekly/Hook editor Hawes Spencer, and Charlottesville 2017: The Legacy of Race and Inequity, a collection of essays from UVA faculty.

Summer of Hate is an “objective, journalistic account,” says Saunders. “Hawes rose to the top immediately as someone trusted locally and experienced.” He has reported for other news organizations, including the New York Times on August 12. “He was best for an unbiased, objective account to put those facts on the table so people could decide,” says Saunders.

Editors Louis Nelson, UVA vice provost and professor of architectural history, and Claudrena Harold, professor of history at the Carter G. Woodson Institute, “corralled UVA faculty” to write essays for Charlottesville 2017 and to use their expertise on a range of topics from free speech to local history and the legacy of white supremacy and slavery, says Saunders.

Among the 14 essays are history professor John Edwin Mason’s “History, Mine and Ours: Charlottesville’s Blue Ribbon Commission and the Terror Attacks of August 2017.” English professor Lisa Woolfork writes “‘This Class of Persons’: When UVA’s White Supremacist Past Meets Its Future,” and Darden’s Greg Fairchild pens “How I Learned That Diversity Does Not Equal Integration.”

The collection uses “a set of experts in their own fields to unpack these topics for someone,” says Saunders. “It’s a testament that UVA has been grappling with these issues before we had these eruptions.”


Quote of the week

The safest place people think about in the world is where, a church. And we know what happened in South Carolina. Those [nine] people did not think their lives were going to end that day in church…With all the uncertainty, it’s not something you want to be wrong on.Mayor Nikuyah Walker responds to complaints about park closures at August 6 City Council meeting


In brief

Jumper not found

Several local and state water rescue teams rushed to an I-64 overpass August 2 after a woman was seen jumping from the bridge into the Rivanna River. Police suspended search efforts around 3pm the following day because of “dangerously fast currents,” according to Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller.

Severe weather

Though media had published photos of windows ripped from Monticello High School during a stint of bad weather on August 2, locals were surprised to learn later that day that a two-mile, 70mph tornado, which touched down at 11am on Avon Street Extended, actually caused that mess, according to the National Weather Service.

Kind of severe weather

On the third day of this month, Charlottesville had already received 7.22 inches of rain, which is 177 percent of normal August precipitation. And we’d gotten 2,750 percent of normal month-to-date precipitation, according to climatologist Jerry Stenger.

New leaders—UVA

New UVA President Jim Ryan, who officially took office August 1 (see article on p. 11), appointed two women to hold high positions of power just two days later. He named Elizabeth “Liz” Magill as executive vice president and provost and Jennifer “J.J.” Wagner Davis as executive vice president and chief operating officer. He also appointed Alejandro “Alex” Hernandez as dean of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies.

New leader—city

John Blair will find plenty of litigation in his new job as city attorney. Submitted photo

Albemarle’s deputy county attorney John Blair takes the city attorney job previously held by Craig Brown. Lisa Robertson, deputy city attorney, held down the fort in the interim.

 


Babysitter released for rehab

A woman who pleaded guilty in May to felony cruelty or injury to a child and to operating a home daycare without a license was in court again July 25 asking to be temporarily released from jail to seek treatment at a rehab center in Williamsburg.

A judge allowed Kathy Yowell-Rohm, the owner of the Forest Lakes daycare where police found 16 children last December—almost all with dirty, soaked diapers or crying and strapped in swings in a dark room—to attend a 30-day program at The Farley Center, a drug and alcohol addiction facility near Colonial Williamsburg.

Attorney Rhonda Quagliana said Yowell-Rohm has been sober while locked up for eight months, and has worked through every recovery program in the jail. She asked for her client to be released directly to the custody of her father, who would transport her immediately to The Farley Center.

“I think that this is a substantial investment by WhiteSands orlando rehabs and her family,” said Quagliana. “They wanted to make sure it would happen.” She also added that Yowell-Rohm’s mother has passed away since she’s been incarcerated.

As Yowell-Rohm, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit with a blonde bun piled on top of her head, exited the courtroom, she winked at her dad.

Prosecutor Darby Lowe noted that Yowell-Rohm was arrested for driving drunk in February 2016, for being drunk in public, and for assaulting an EMT at Scott Stadium at the UVA-Virginia Tech football game in November 2017.

“She certainly, obviously, needs treatment,” said Judge Franklin Humes.

Yowell-Rohm’s 30-day program could be extended to 90 days, if necessary, according to her attorney. She’ll be back in court for a pre-sentencing report on September 7.

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In brief: Get off the tracks, a Klansman’s plea and and a misidentified racist

See tracks? Think train

That’s advice from Dave Dixon, the safety and compliance supervisor of the Buckingham Branch Railroad, who notes the national increase of railroad crossing fatalities this year.

One of them happened here. An Amtrak carrying GOP congressmen smashed into a garbage truck on Crozet
train tracks in January, killing 28-year-old truck passenger Christopher Foley.

In an increased effort to educate drivers, Dixon offers advice for what to do if your car gets stuck on the crossing:

1. Evacuate the car and get away from the tracks.

2. Call the number on the blue sign at the crossing, not 911.

3. If a train approaches, run toward the train at a 45-degree angle and away from the track.

4. Don’t run down track, where the train could knock the vehicle into you.

Other tips:

  • Don’t drive around the gates.
  • Never try to “beat a train.”
  • At private crossings without gates, stop, look and listen before crossing.
  • Before crossing, be sure there’s enough room on the other side to safely clear the tracks.
  • If the gates are down while you’re on the crossing, drive through the gate. It’s designed to break away.
  • Report any malfunctioning gates, lights or other problems to the number on the blue sign.

Preston pleads

Courtesy of an ACLU video

An imperial wizard of Baltimore’s Confederate White Knights of the KKK, who was charged with firing a gun within 1,000 feet of a school at the Unite the Right rally, pleaded no contest May 5, just one day before his trial was scheduled to begin. Richard Preston was aiming his gun at Corey Long, who pointed a homemade flamethrower at the Klansman in a photo that went viral.

High-paying jobs

Ralph Northam

Governor Ralph Northam was in town May 2 to tout CoConstruct, a web-based company in Albemarle that helps custom homebuilders and remodelers manage their projects, and its plans to expand its IT ops and hire 69 new employees, some of whom will earn over $100,000. Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball called Charlottesville the “Camelot of Virginia.”

Northam noncommittal on Soering

In his second visit to Albemarle County in five days, Northam was at the Virginia Humanities’ folklife showcase when WVTF’s Sandy Hausman asked him about the pardon petition for Jens Soering amid increased calls from law enforcement supporting Soering’s innocence. Northam said he will stand by the decision of the parole board, which has denied parole 13 times.

Sage Smith episode

DaShad “Sage” Smith

Charlottesville police are still looking for leads in the homicide of Smith, who was last seen November 20, 2012. The disappearance is the subject of an episode on the Investigation Discovery channel show “Disappeared.” “Born this Way” airs at 7pm May 9. Police also seek information on the whereabouts of Erik McFadden, who was supposed to meet Smith the day of her disappearance.

Greene official charged

Larry Snow, Greene County commissioner of revenue, was charged with four felonies for use of trickery to obtain information stemming from a DMV investigation, according to the Greene County Record. Snow, 69, was first elected in 1987. In 2010, he was convicted of practicing law without a license, a misdemeanor.

Bad babysitter

Yowell-Rohm

Kathy Yowell-Rohm pleaded guilty to felony cruelty or injury to a child and operating a home daycare without a license after police found 16 children—most with seriously dirty diapers—from a few months old to age 4 in her home last December. She also pleaded guilty to assaulting an EMT in a parking lot at the November 24 UVA-Virginia Tech football game.

Terrys end treestand-off

Mother Red Terry, 61, and daughter Minor Terry, 30, came down May 5 from the trees on their property near Roanoke where they’d been camped since April 2 to protest the Mountain Valley Pipeline after a federal judge found them in contempt and said she’d start fining the Terrys for every day they defied her order.

Quote of the Week

“Out in the fresh air and sunshine, he could just have walked away.” —Judge Rick Moore at the trial of Alex Michael Ramos, who was convicted of the malicious wounding of DeAndre Harris.

Misidentified racist

Don Blankenship, Larry Sabato and MyPillow Guy Mike Lindell

It’s always best if the offended has a sense of humor.

A Huffington Post Instagram account called @huffpostasianvoices posted a photo of UVA’s Larry Sabato along with a story called, “GOP Senate Candidate: ‘Chinaperson’ Isn’t Racist,” referring to Don Blankenship, the West Virginian who recently used the racial slur, and who CNN editor Chris Cillizza has called “the worst candidate in America.”

Sabato did appear in an interview for the story, and on Twitter, he said, “After a loyal former student alerted me to the photo mix up, we reported it and it was quickly corrected.”

Blankenship isn’t his only doppelgänger. Two years ago, reporter Megyn Kelly noted that Sabato looks strikingly similar to the MyPillow infomercial salesman.

Tweeted the founder and director of the university’s Center for Politics, “After all, Don Blankenship, MyPillow guy and I all have a mustache, and everyone knows all mustachioed men look alike.”

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Bad babysitter: Forest Lakes daycare operator pleads guilty

Kathy Yowell-Rohm spoke softly as she pleaded guilty May 7 to felony cruelty or injury to a child and operating a home daycare without a license after police found 16 children at her Forest Lakes residence last December.

One adult is allowed to care for a maximum of four children at a daycare, according to state code.

Aside from a four-year-old boy, who was the oldest child in the house, each baby and toddler’s diaper was dirty—some so wet and bulging that urine had soaked through their diapers, clothes and the padding of the seats they were confined to, according to prosecutor Darby Lowe.

Representatives from Child Protective Services and the Albemarle County Police Department searched the house on Turnberry Circle on December 6, after Rohm initially denied their entry two days earlier. Even from outside of the house, they could hear babies crying, according to previous testimony.

Inside, several infants were kept in swings and carseats in a dark room, seemingly without food or water, Lowe said.

“The smell was quite awful, of urine and feces,” said CPS investigator Alyssa Westenberger in a January preliminary hearing.

The 54 year old, who wore a red jail jumpsuit and had her hair piled in a neat blonde bun on the top of her head in Albemarle County Circuit Court, also pleaded guilty to assaulting an emergency medical service provider in a parking lot at the November 24 UVA and Virginia Tech football game.

Lowe said Yowell-Rohm witnessed the EMT responding to a woman who had fallen down. Yowell-Rohm became upset and began acting like a “family member or loved one” of the injured person, whom she’d apparently never met.

She was also written up for public swearing or intoxication, a charge that the prosecutor dropped in exchange for her guilty plea to the assault.

The prosecutor said Yowell-Rohm continued to interfere with the EMT and patient, holding onto the ambulance as it began to pull away. When the emergency worker stopped tending to the injured person to remove Yowell-Rohm, she allegedly knocked him to the ground.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on September 7.

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Dirty diapers: Daycare provider will go to grand jury

A local daycare operator who was arrested last month on a felony charge of cruelty and injuries to children after 16 youngsters were found in her Forest Lakes home will go before the grand jury in February. A Juvenile and Domestic Relations court judge ruled January 8 that there was enough probable cause to certify the charge.

Kathy Yowell-Rohm smiled and waved to the crowded courtroom as she entered in a red jumpsuit and handcuffs that attached to a chain around her stomach.

The 53-year-old woman was operating a home daycare out of her Forest Lakes residence. A Child Protective Services investigator testified that she received a report that children were being left in car seats all day with no food and without having their diapers changed.

When CPS investigator Alyssa Westenberger arrived at the home on Turnberry Circle on December 6, she said she could hear multiple babies crying from outside.

Initially denied access to the children, Westenberger was accompanied by Albemarle County police officers when she found 16 kids—ages 3 months to one 4-year-old—in different rooms in the home. Some children were in the dark, and all but the oldest child had extremely wet, bulging diapers, said several witnesses. Some of the diapers had soaked through, onto the infants’ clothing and the padding of the seats and swings they were confined to.

At least one diaper was filled with feces, and some of the substance had dried on the leg of the baby wearing it.

“The smell was quite awful, of urine and feces,” said Westenberger.

The CPS investigator testified that Yowell-Rohm isn’t a licensed daycare operator.

In Albemarle County, daycare centers operating out of private homes are known as family day homes, and those serving four or fewer children do not require licenses. However, if a family day home provider cares for more than four kids under the age of 2, with a limit of 12 children, she must possess a state-issued license from the Virginia Department of Social Services, according to spokesperson Cletisha Lovelace.

Defense attorney Scott Goodman said his client’s behavior wasn’t felonious, and that he wasn’t sure prosecutor Darby Lowe proved Yowell-Rohm had committed more than a lack of ordinary care.

“There’s nothing unusual about a 6-month-old being in a car seat or a rocker,” he said, noting that the home was clean and investigators had access to additional clothing and diapers in a variety of sizes. “I’m sure that all over this city at this minute, children are sitting in a dark room, taking a nap, with a dirty diaper.”

Judge Claude Worrell didn’t seem to agree, and he scheduled Yowell-Rohm’s case to be heard before the next sitting grand jury at 9:30am on February 5.

Yowell-Rohm will also be in court January 18 to face charges of drunk in public and allegedly biting an EMT at the UVA/Virginia Tech football game November 24 at Scott Stadium.

The third degree

The Virginia Department of Social Services offers a number of questions parents should ask before deciding on a daycare service for their children.

  • Is there adequate supervision at all times?
  • Is there a routine but flexible schedule?
  • Is there dedicated outside time and indoor time?
  • Do the children have pretend play, music and art time?
  • Are the meals and snacks nutritious?

Corrected January 10 at 3:45pm to reflect that family day home providers who care for more than four children under the age of 2 must be licensed.