Four employees at a daycare in New Hampshire were arrested on Thursday for allegedly adding the sleep supplement melatonin to children’s food.
The arrests are a result of an investigation that took place in November 2023 at a daycare center in Manchester, New Hampshire. Manchester is located about 30 minutes away from the state capital, Concord.
According to ABC News, authorities were called to investigate a report of “unsafe practices” at the day care. The information comes from a press release by the Manchester police department.
Police found out, after investigating for six months, that children had secretly been given melatonin. Police arrested the owner of the daycare, Sally Dreckmann, who is 52 years old. They also arrested three of her employees: Traci Innie, who is 51 years old, and Kaitlin Filardo and Jessica Foster, who are both 23 years old.
“The police investigation revealed that melatonin was being added to the children’s food without their parents’ knowledge or consent,” authorities stated. Dreckmann and her three colleagues are each accused of 10 charges of endangering children, according to the New York Daily News.
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On Friday, it was not clear how many children at the daycare had been taking melatonin or for how long. Melatonin is a supplement that helps with sleep and can be bought without a prescription. However, we do not have much information about the long-term effects of melatonin on children.
In recent years, there have been multiple reports of children being given too much melatonin. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that about 7% of emergency department visits between 2012 and 2021 were for children who accidentally swallowed melatonin.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has issued a health warning about using melatonin with children and teenagers. They are concerned about the lack of oversight from the US Food and Drug Administration for this sleep aid.
According to WBZ News, the police found out that Dreckmann’s daycare was not licensed. In New Hampshire, you can run a daycare without a license as long as you only care for up to three children at a time.
People who live nearby said they didn’t know that there was a daycare in their neighborhood.
“I know because I’m a grandparent,” said Gary Boucher. “That’s very shocking – it truly is.”
“I would be very upset if it were my child.”
Boucher also expressed his hope that authorities would not only make arrests at the daycare, but also close down the facility.
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