GRANADA HILLS : Day-Care Operator Charged in Violations

A Granada Hills woman was charged Tuesday by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office with child endangerment and operating a day-care business without a license.

Mary Ann Torres, 48, has continued running a day-care center out of her home since her state license was revoked for numerous violations in 1993, said Deputy City Atty. Mark Lambert.

Torres, who is scheduled to be arraigned April 4, faces the possibility of a year in jail and/or a $2,000 fine.

The state Department of Social Services stripped Torres of her license two years ago when it was discovered that numerous violations--such as allowing poisons, medications and a razor in areas accessible to children and leaving household furniture and other items in front of potential emergency exits--were being committed at Torres’ home during day-care service hours.

Department officials also said that Torres never issued the required proof of health and criminal-record clearances for her son, then 19, who lived with her in 1993.

The department began investigating the possibility of initiating charges against Torres in August, after receiving complaints that she had continued to conduct day-care services with the help of a nearby Kindercare Center.

According to the Department of Social Services’ legal office, Torres had an arrangement with the Kindercare Center in which she picked up the six children she cared for after the school closed for the day. Kindercare officials could not be reached for comment.

Then, on Halloween of last year, the Los Angeles Police Department received a complaint from an angry mother stating that Torres had disciplined her 4-year-old son for crying by locking him in her car inside a dark garage for about three hours.

The Department of Social Services is seeking a preliminary injunction against Torres that would force her to halt her child-care business immediately. A hearing on the injunction is scheduled Wednesday in Van Nuys Superior Court.