The director of an Oneonta daycare was arrested Thursday morning, 10 days after a worker was indicted on multiple charges of child abuse of students under her care.
Marleen Lowry, 60, is charged with failure to report child abuse, according to Blount County Jail records. The charge is a misdemeanor crime.
Authorities contend that Lowry, who has been placed on leave from her job as director at Lester Memorial United Methodist Church Daycare, failed to report to police or the Department of Human Resources that she had received complaints of abuse. At least one complaint was made as far back as June.
Lowry was booked into the Blount County Jail at 9:26 a.m. Thursday and released at 9:57 a.m. after posting $1,000 bond.
Earlier this month, 47-year-old Linda Self was charged with one count of aggravated child abuse and four counts of torture or willful abuse of a child under the age of 18. There are five victims, and all are toddlers.
The alleged abuse took place while Self was employed at Lester Memorial United Methodist Church Daycare. Self has since been fired from her job there.
The investigation began in late 2021, said Sgt. Steven Adamson. A Blount County grand jury returned the indictments against Self on Jan 27, court records show. She turned herself in at the Blount County Jail at 10:27 a.m. that Monday and was released at 11:17 a.m. after posting $75,000 bond.
Police aren’t detailing what kind of physical abuse took place but said the toddlers weren’t injured. Some of the acts were caught on the daycare’s video surveillance system.
