OAN’s Brooke Mallory
3:29 PM – Thursday, February 8, 2024
A biological man that now identifies as a transgender woman who was accused of sexually assaulting an infant entered into a plea agreement, and if he continues to comply with the terms of the agreement, will not go to prison in Kentucky.
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Former childcare worker “Maria Childers” enlisted the help of a well-known trans activist attorney to defend him in the horrifying case.
Following an anonymous complaint to the Department of Community Based Services (DCBS) regarding purported abuse at Explore Learning Academy that was first reported in November 2022. Childers was finally placed under arrest in February 2023 after a thorough investigation.
According to the tip, which was allegedly submitted by one of Childers’ coworkers, he was accused of inappropriately touching the baby’s private parts and making inappropriate comments while it was being changed on a changing table.
Now that the press has been given access to the complete complaint against Childers this week, it shows that he was accused of both physical and sexual abuse during his tenure working at the daycare facility.
On February 8th, 2023, a DCBS case worker and a Paducah Police Department officer visited the daycare to speak with witnesses after receiving the first anonymous complaint. They were then able to verify the anonymous allegation by chatting with numerous employees who had also witnessed Childers’ disturbing behavior.
Witness testimony said that Childers was asked to help a coworker change an infant’s diaper. The coworker noted that the baby seemed distressed as Childers was cleaning the baby’s genitalia and inquired as to whether Childers was injuring the child. She then saw Childers “circularly” stroke the baby’s genitalia, stating, “That was her clit area, and she likes it. It just made her day.”
However, Childers only received a “write up” from Academy management despite being reported. Subsequently, the police discovered that Childers had also been accused by other colleagues of neglecting the kids in high chairs for “hours.”
Upon being brought to the police station for interrogation, Childers first claimed that he had not changed the baby’s diaper whatsoever. Nevertheless, after an officer showed him a text message that he had sent to the director of the daycare verifying the baby’s diaper change, he subsequently acknowledged having done so. Later, Childers attempted to refute any inappropriate remarks that he had made and maintained that he frequently made statements that were “taken out of context,” in his own words.
Soon after, Childers was taken into custody and charged with three counts of first-degree criminal abuse of a child under the age of twelve and one count of first-degree sexual abuse of a victim under the age of twelve. The McCracken County Jail then received a booking for him.
His last name has been spelled differently by the courts, the police, and his social media accounts, which alternate between the spellings “Childers” and “Childres.” This has caused considerable confusion. His name is written “Childres” in the Kentucky Court of Justice records, while “Childers” appears under his own signature and in his defense files.
Although Childers was first identified as “male” by the police and the jail, internal records that the outlet Reduxx was able to obtain show that the McCracken County Jail eventually changed Childers’ reported sex to “female.”
Court documents also revealed that Childers hired trans activist attorney Madison Leach on a private basis to represent him barely one month after he was detained.
When Leach campaigned as a Democrat for the Calloway County attorney seat, he became the first openly transgender candidate to run for public office in western Kentucky. Leach is a biological man who started identifying as a transgender woman seven years ago.
Leach filed a request to lower Childers’ bond, claiming that when he was held in solitary confinement at the McCracken County Jail, he was “deprived of estrogen.”
The request was eventually granted, and Childers’ bond was lowered from $100,000 to $5,000. The bail requirements included staying away from the daycare where he had worked and having no contact with minors.
In January 2024, Childers was freed from detention.
Childers seems to have reached an agreement with prosecutors on January 29th, 2024. His charge of First-Degree Sexual Abuse of a Victim Under 12 was modified to Class A Misdemeanor Sexual Misconduct in return for a guilty plea, and the other abuse counts were shockingly withdrawn.
Judge Joseph Roark handed Childers “a 12-month penalty,” but deferred sentencing and granted a six-month conditional release.
Childers may even avoid having a criminal record and avoid doing any prison time as long as he follows the rules established by the court throughout the six-month term.
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