Day care operator left 6 children unattended in Palmyra home, police say

A Palmyra woman operating a day care out of her home left six young children “alone and unattended,” according to a news release from the Lebanon County Detective Bureau.

A parent arrived on April 4 at the home of Meghan Fedor, 45, in the 500 block of East Walnut Street, to pick up his daughter, police said. He arrived earlier than was routine, and there was no response at the door.

The parent then called Fedor on her cell phone, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Detective Matthew Brindley. Fedor told him she would be home in a few minutes, and her friend Jocelyn was in the basement but likely did not hear his knock.

A short time later, Fedor arrived in her vehicle, pulled into the garage and closed the door, police said. After a few minutes, she opened the front door with the child.

“The child appeared to have been crying and the shoulder straps of the child’s car seat were wet,” police wrote in the news release. “The parent was suspicious and asked if the child was left alone in the car seat.”

Fedor denied it and told the parent that the straps might be wet because another child spilled milk on them, the affidavit states. This time, she said the adult in the house was named Kristen, not Jocelyn.

In a May 3 interview with police, Fedor admitted that she left the six children – aged 5 months to 5 years – alone in the house that day, the affidavit stated. She said she left to pick up another child from kindergarten and could not take the six children with her “because of the rain.”

Fedor denied ever leaving the children home alone prior to April 4, according to the affidavit. However, police interviewed a 5-year-old girl who said the children were left alone on multiple occasions.

Fedor was charged with felony endangering the welfare of children, according to court documents. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 8 a.m. Sept. 6 in front of magisterial district judge Carl R. Garver.