Provider could face felony charges over loss of child

MARICOPA - The Maricopa Police Department is forwarding felony child abuse charges for a situation in February where a toddler went missing from a child care provider's home.

The incident occurred on Feb. 20 at about 10:30 a.m. when landscapers in the Rancho El Dorado neighborhood found a 2-year-old boy walking the streets alone.

According to police reports, the woman who found the toddler spent about 15 minutes walking the neighborhood and knocking on doors trying to find the child's parents, and then she called police.

When police arrived on scene, they also helped canvas the neighborhood. They later came in contact with Ross Pearson, the boy's father, who said he was looking for his child. MPD had Pearson show family photos to confirm the child was his before reuniting the two.

According to reports, that morning the child had been left in the care of Olivia Christina Merolli, who provides home-based child care. Pearson's son did not regularly attend this child care facility, but Pearson had a doctor's appointment that morning and dropped his son off at about 10:15 a.m.

Pearson returned to Merolli's house around 12:15 p.m. and discovered that his son was not there.

Pearson said Merolli told him and the police that the child was "just here" and that she had "just seen him." But Pearson said it had been about two hours since the boy left her house.

"I'm in the military, and I have been to combat several times, but this was the worst experience I've ever had in my life," Pearson said in a previous interview.

Pearson also claimed the condition of Merolli's house were unsafe, including having an excessive number of children in her care and a lack of proper security measures.

In the police report, Merollii said she had 14 children in her care that day - from 9 months to 4 years old - with her as the only adult.

Merolli did admit that the child got out and said it was "devastating" to her. She said she has been in the day care business for 34 years, and nothing like this had ever happened to her.

"I don't have any excuse. It shouldn't have happened," Merolli told PinalCentral. "It happened at a busy time. The kids were cleaning up and I didn't notice. I'm guilty of that, and I'm sorry. But it wasn't anything intentional."

MPD conducted a follow-up interview with Merolli the next day, because she would not allow officers into her house the day of the accident. During the interview, police verified that all the locks in her house worked properly.

According to reports, Merolli's child care business is unlicensed. Officers asked Merolli the name of her business and she said, "There is no name, I just babysit."

In one instance in the report, Merolli said she doesn't collect any money but later said her rates are "very cheap," and she usually charges about $20 a day. In the report, Pearson said he normally pays about $25 to $35 dollars an hour.

After the follow-up interview, MPD contacted the state Department of Child Safety, but the agency said it couldn't take the case. MPD reported that it contacted the Arizona Department of Health Services and city code enforcement, which will both be investigating the situation.

MPD turned the case over to criminal investigators and has submitted felony charges of child abuse to the county attorney, based on the child "recklessly being placed in a situation where health or welfare was endangered."