Maria Childers
A Kentucky transgender daycare worker reached a plea deal and avoided jail time after sexually-assaulting a baby while changing her diaper and bragging about it to a colleague.

Maria Childers was arrested in February 2023 for inappropriately touching an infant and making inappropriate comments while changing the baby's diaper, reported WPSD Local 6.

Investigators had received an anonymous tip that Childers had sexually abused a baby while working at Explore Learning Academy in Paducah in November 2022.

Court records obtained by Reduxx revealed Childers assaulted the child while changing her diaper then told a colleague, 'She likes it. It just made her day,' using additional language that is too disturbing to reproduce.

The Paducah police and the Kentucky Department for Community Based Services interviewed a witness who corroborated the details of the tip.

Prior to his arrest, a daycare facilitator told police they were aware of Childers actions and gave him a 'write-up' for the inappropriate comments.


Comment: How were those comments not immediate grounds for termination? The daycare operators really must be totally clueless.


Childers at first denied ever changing the baby's diaper, but then changed that claim after officers read a text Childers sent to the daycare director confirming he had changed the diaper, police said.

He was initially charged with first-degree sexual abuse of a victim under the age of 12 and jailed in the McCracken County Jail on $100,000 bond.

Childers then hired attorney Madison Leach, a local trans-activist lawyer, who motioned to have his bond reduced saying Childers did not have access to estrogen while in solitary confinement.

He was released from custody in January and one year after he was arrested, Childers reached a deal with the prosecutors and in exchange for a guilty plea the charges were reduced to Class A Misdemeanor Sexual Misconduct.

Judge Joseph Roark sentenced Childers to a 12-month penalty, but withheld jail time and given a conditional discharge for six months. If he abides by the conditions, he may not face any jail time at all.

Leach said the conditions include Childers has no contact with children and remain away from the Explore Learning Academy.