Woman Pleads No Contest to Drugs, Gun in Day-Care Home

A Reseda woman who operated a day-care center in her home where police found an eight-foot-high marijuana plant and a loaded gun within the reach of children has pleaded no contest to drug and child endangerment charges, authorities said Thursday.

Kim Elaine McIntyre, 29, entered the plea Wednesday to five counts of child endangerment--one for each of the children in her care at the time of her arrest--and one count of cultivating marijuana, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Marsh M. Goldstein.

McIntyre could be sentenced to up to four years in prison, but Goldstein said that Van Nuys Superior Court Judge James M. Coleman indicated that he may place her on probation. Sentencing is scheduled for May 8.

McIntyre was arrested July 10, 1990, after Los Angeles police received an anonymous tip that marijuana was being grown at her house in the 19500 block of Vanowen Street.

Detectives saw an eight-foot-tall marijuana plant extending over a back-yard fence next to children’s toys and obtained a search warrant, police said.

In addition to the marijuana plant, police found about five ounces of the drug inside the house and a loaded rifle in an unlocked bedroom, prosecutors said.

Investigators reported that McIntyre said she was growing the marijuana to help cut down on her boyfriend’s expenses for the drug.

McIntyre also told police that she put the marijuana in brownies and cookies, but that the children in her care did not eat any of the baked goods, authorities said.

The state Department of Social Services, which licenses day-care centers, revoked McIntyre’s permit to operate the center after her arrest.