Day-Care Operator Denies Child Abuse

A Simi Valley day-care center operator pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a charge of child abuse for allegedly shaking a 1-year-old boy who suffered brain damage and nearly died.

Margaret Mary Major denied the felony charge and an added allegation that she caused great bodily injury to the boy. A preliminary hearing is set Feb. 23 in Ventura County Municipal Court.

If Major is convicted of abusing the infant, the 48-year-old woman could face up to six years in state prison.

Major was arrested by Simi Valley police last week after authorities concluded a three-month investigation of the incident and her in-home child-care business.

According to court documents, the child’s father dropped the boy off at Major’s house the morning of Sept. 24 and then went to work. It was the first time the infant had been placed outside the care of his parents, court papers said.

About 1:30 p.m., Major called 911 to report the child had stopped breathing. When police arrived at the home, officers found the boy lying in a crib with his eyes closed and breathing with some difficulty, court papers said.

Doctors at Simi Valley Hospital found no outward signs of injury, but tests showed the boy had suffered a severe, potentially fatal head injury with bleeding in the skull cavity, a request for an arrest warrant said.

The child was airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, where doctors concluded the child’s injury was not the result of a fall or an illness. It’s suspected the boy had been shaken, according to court documents.