Babysitter pleads out for 30 days in jail

Parents held their children close and passed tissues to one another as they watched their former babysitter, Kimberly Hignite, plead guilty Monday to 14 counts of misdemeanor child endangerment in a packed Franklin County Common Pleas courtroom.

Hignite, 52, was sentenced to 30 days in jail at the Richland County jail, near where she now lives in the village of Plymouth, for abusing children at the non-registered day care she ran out of her former Grove City home.

She was indicted in June 2018 on five counts of gross sexual imposition and 17 counts of child endangerment for allegedly engaging in sexual misconduct with children in her care between February 2011 and May 2018.

Three of the gross sexual imposition charges and five of the child endangerment charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement, with the other two sexual misconduct charges being lowered to child endangerment charges. Assistant prosecutor Amy Van Culin said all of the families who cooperated were involved in the plea agreement.

Detectives searched Hignite’s home in May 2018 after two children who attended her day care said they were sexually abused by Hignite, according to court records. Detectives found 23 children in the home. Hignite was not home, and the only adult present was her 71-year-old mother, who used a walker.

The children ranged in age from 7 months to 5 years. Some were found strapped in car seats and left in separate rooms. Hignite denied sexually touching any of the children, but admitted to detectives that she had too many children in her care, according to court records.

Parents told stories of abuse their children shared with them — being force-fed sleeping medicine, having food and water withheld for hours, carrying other children down to the basement to be strapped into car seats.

“I trusted her words, which is something I will never forgive myself for,” said Melanie Rawlins, a Far West Side mother of two children who attended Hignite’s day care.

Other parents called Hignite “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” and said that sending their children to her day care has made them question any developmental delays and unusual behaviorstheir children show.

Hignite, who chose not to speak in court, shook her head and hid her face in her hands while parents spoke.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge William Woods said this case was especially difficult to handle as the grandfather of two children under 2 years old in day care.

“I certainly understand the pain of the families in this case, the seriousness of the trust that is placed upon day cares, the impact day cares have on the children,” Woods said. “The court hopes again that the families are successful in overcoming the harm that has been done in this case.”