Ruling Lets Suspect Care for 1 Child

A Simi Valley woman accused of child abuse may continue to care for the daughter of a close friend, but may not care for any other children unless supervised by an adult, a judge ruled Monday.

After hearing a motion filed by prosecutors, Judge Edward F. Brodie ruled that Margaret Mary Major may provide daytime care for the 7-year-old child of a Simi Valley friend, but may not care for any other children unless another adult is present.

“Respectfully, we disagree with the judge’s decision because there should be no exceptions when you’re dealing with the safety of children,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. John Blair. “We were seeking a blanket prohibition that would have kept her from having contact with any children.”

In addition to seeking a court order forbidding Major to care for any children, Blair modified the charges against her to include a count of causing great bodily injury that resulted in a coma and paralysis.

That will be added to the one charge of child abuse and single count of causing great bodily injury facing Major, 58.

When deciding the case, the jury will be able to determine her guilt on all of the charges or only the child-abuse count.

Major could receive from six to 11 years in prison.

A pretrial conference is scheduled June 30 in Ventura County Superior Court, when a trial date will be set.

The district attorney’s office filed the motion after receiving a complaint from the girl’s father, Larry Wilkin, who was concerned that his estranged wife’s decision to let Major care for their daughter compromised her safety.

Wilson said that Wilkin’s estranged wife asked Major to care for her daughter on only one occasion. He said Major offered the care and was not paid for it.

Major was arrested and charged with child abuse in January after a three-month investigation into an incident that left a baby boy with severe neurological injuries that doctors believe will be permanent.

*

According to police records, the boy’s father dropped off the baby at Major’s home at 7:35 a.m. Sept. 24 and went to work. Major ran a child-care center from her Simi Valley home.

At about 1:30 p.m., Major called for an ambulance because the boy had stopped breathing. When officers arrived, they found the boy lying in a crib with his eyes closed and breathing with difficulty. Major told officers that, without warning, the boy had gone limp in her arms.

The boy was taken to Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles, where a pediatric neurosurgeon said the injuries were like those “of a child who had fallen out of a second-story window and landed on a driveway below,” according to a police document.

Authorities suspect that the child received the injuries when Major shook him.

Major surrendered her child-care license in October, prior to a scheduled hearing by the state Department of Social Services, which alleged that she either caused or permitted an injury so severe that the boy suffered a debilitating stroke.