An Ankeny woman has been sentenced to three years in prison after an infant died at her in-home day care in 2018.
Samuel Mann, who was 3 months old at the time, died after he was found unresponsive after being left unattended on his stomach for about 30 minutes, prosecutors said in court filings. Ankeny police had warned day care provider Jennifer Brungardt weeks earlier that she was caring for too many children after another child was injured in her care.
Under Iowa law, in-home day care providers may care for up to five children without registering with the state. Brungardt was caring for 11 children on Sept. 5, 2018, the day Mann was injured, and emergency responders reported finding a “completely chaotic” scene, including two other children with “extremely full” diapers.
Court records show Brungardt, 45, pleaded guilty in May to child endangerment and operating a child care center without a license. A third count of neglect of a dependent was dismissed. On July 20, Judge Robert Hanson sentenced her to two years and one year on the two charges, to run consecutively.
Brungardt’s attorney, F. Montgomery Brown, did not respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors had twice tried to charge Brungardt with child endangerment resulting in death, a more serious felony, but both times the court dismissed the charge, holding that “at best, the record shows a certain sleeping position poses an increased risk of asphyxia that might have been the cause of death” but falls short of demonstrating sleeping on his stomach specifically caused Mann’s death.
Despite that, Brungardt has been ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution, the amount mandated by state law for felonies causing the death of another, to Mann’s family.
A 2019 investigation by the Des Moines Register identified seven infants and toddlers who had died in Iowa day cares from January 2018 to July 2019. Most were at in-home day cares, and several cases resulted in criminal charges.
That count did not include two-month-old Isla Warnke, who died after being found unresponsive at a different Ankeny home day care in December 2018. The operator of that day care, Michael Coffman, received a 10-year suspended sentence last month.
The 2019 investigation found a system of light regulation and overworked inspectors overseeing in-home day cares, including laws keeping private complaints against unregistered day care providers. Iowa has not made significant changes to its oversight regime since then, although a law passed this year sought to unlock additional tax credits for parents and day care providers.
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William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at [email protected], 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.