Hearing held for FUMC daycare child abuse suspects

There’s no trial date scheduled for the four women charged in connection with alleged child abuse at the First United Methodist Church daycare after arraignment was held Wednesday for the former pastor and daycare director who were recently re-indicted for new charges.

Superseding indictments for eight counts each of complicity to criminal child abuse against children under the age 12 were returned Friday against Reverend Paige Williams and former daycare director Abby Leach. They were both previously charged with only one count of complicity to child abuse.

The indictments allege they “breached their legal duty to protect the minor children by failing to prevent Alison Simpson and Nina Cook from intentionally abusing” children. In each count, the victim is described as being under the age of 13 months old.

Attorneys Bill Deatherage and Ben Fletcher each waived formal arraignment on the superseding indictments and entered not guilty pleas for Williams and Leach.

Judge Atkins declined to set a new trial date Wednesday, instead scheduling a pre-trial conference for May 26, when attorneys will need to have decided if they want to accept any plea offer.

Simpson, who formerly worked at the daycare, is indicted on 30 counts of criminal child abuse. All 30 counts are alleged to have happened between December 19 of 2018 and January 18 of 2019. Eleven of the counts are against the same infant and a total of eight children are listed as victims in all of the allegations.

Morgan, who also worked at the daycare, is indicted for two counts of criminal child abuse.