Colorado daycare owner charged after 26 toddlers found behind ‘false wall’ in basement

A Colorado Springs daycare owner is facing charges of child abuse and attempting to influence a public servant after a November raid led authorities to 26 toddlers hidden behind a "false wall" in her facility.

Carla Faith, 58, operated the Play Mountain Place daycare and Counterpoint Preschool in a facility attached to her home prior to their closure following the Nov. 13 raid by the Colorado Department of Human Services and Colorado Springs Police Department, KCNC reported.

On Thursday, KRDO reported the following employees of Faith's were also charged in connection with the conditions discovered that day:

• Christina Swauger, 35: Attempt to influence a public servant (felony) and child abuse (misdemeanor)

• Katelynne Nelson, 31: Unlawful possession of a Schedule II controlled substance (felony) and child abuse (misdemeanor

• Valerie Fresquez, 24: child abuse (misdemeanor)

To date, authorities have shuttered a total of four facilities operated by Faith in Colorado Springs, KCNC reported.

And according to the Colorado Department of Human Services, Faith previously ran childcare facilities in California shut down for similar reasons in the 1990s, the station reported.

According to an affidavit obtained by KRDO, Faith's childcare license permitted her to care for only as many as six children between the ages of zero and 13 and specified that only two of those children could be under the age of 2, ABC News reported.

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