THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 27, 1994 TAG: 9407270358
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DIANE TENNANT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
A home day-care worker who shook a baby until her brain hemorrhaged was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years - with seven suspended - in the penitentiary and ordered never to work in that field again.
With that sentence, a Circuit judge accomplished what the commonwealth of Virginia cannot: keep dangerous child-care workers out of business.
Katherine Hannah, 30, of Westminster Lane in Virginia Beach, pleaded guilty in May to shaking 2-month-old Melinda Griggs so violently that the baby's eyes and brain bled. Hannah claimed that bad menstrual cramps and problems with her boyfriend led to her actions.
She received the maximum sentence for felony child neglect. The suspension of the seven years is conditional on her good behavior for 10 years, and onsupervised probation for three years after her release, or until she pays $7,000 restitution to the Griggs family.
Hannah was taken into custody immediately after hearing the sentence, said prosecutor Afshin Farashahi of the Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.
The Griggses thought they had found a dependable day-care provider in Hannah. They relied on word of mouth and Hannah's decision to voluntarily register her business under a new program of the Virginia Department of Social Services.
On Oct. 26, Sherrie Griggs calledHannah twice to check on Melinda. Both times, at 10 a.m. and at 4 p.m., Hannah said the infant was fine, Farashahi said.
But at 5 p.m., when Griggs arrived to pick up her child, Hannah met her in the yard, holding the limp, pale infant in her arms.
Hannah operated a home-based day-care business. There is no state regulation for home day-care providers keeping eight or fewer children.
But Hannah had signed up for the state's voluntary registration program, in which child-care providers can choose to register with the licensing division of the state Department of Social Services.
Voluntary registration provides a health and safety checklist for providers to fill out, and makes them eligible for federal food reimbursements, newsletters and training seminars. They receive a certificate that they can show to parents.
But the state annually monitors only 10 percent of the providers with certificates, and providers are not required to take any training.
The state revoked Hannah's certificate shortly after her arrest in November, but it had no power to prevent her from legally keeping children as an unlicensed day-care provider.
Farashahi said he asked the judge to suspend only five years of the sentence, and the defense asked for no jail time.
Melinda, now 11 months old, is still recovering. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Melinda Griggs, 11 months, is still recovering from injuries
inflicted Oct. 26.
Katherine Hannah was sentenced to 10 years, seven of them
suspended.
KEYWORDS: CHILD ABUSE SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME INJURIES
TRIAL SENTENCING by CNB