N. Logan child care providers charged with child abuse

A North Logan couple who provide child care services in their home have been charged in 1st District Court with child abuse involving physical injury.

Craig Petith, 47, and Brenda Petith, 45, are state licensed to provide child care in their home on 1600 East in North Logan. They were arrested late Dec. 21 on suspicion of child abuse after North Park Police received reports from the Division of Child and Family Services that day.

The Petiths bailed out of jail immediately and reportedly were in business as usual the following morning.

The alleged abuse involved two children from two different families who are under the care of the Petiths. A request for North Park police records related to their arrest was denied this week, and the Cache County Attorney’s Office has not yet responded to a similar request for information, so additional details about the allegations against them are not yet available.

Brenda Petith was charged with four counts of child abuse involving physical injury, a class A misdemeanor. Her husband was charged with two counts of the same offense.

Charges were filed Monday, and attorney Kevin Vander Werff has entered an appearance on their behalf, but a court date has not been scheduled at this time.

The state agency responsible for licensing child care providers reviewed the case and conducted its own investigations but said it would not reveal its findings until the Petiths’ 30-day appeal period had ended.

Petith has been a licensed child care provider since May 2007, and at the time of her arrest, she held a family license, allowing her to care for up to 14 children in her home, with the help of at least one other individual over the age of 18.