MORGAN HILL, Calif.- A former teacher has been arrested for allegedly slipping a sleeping aid into several toddlers sippy cups at the Kiddie Academy Childcare facility in Morgan Hill.
On Monday, Morgan Hill Police were called to the childcare facility on Monterey Rd., for reports of child endangerment.
Police learned that 59 year old Deborah Gratz had been fired last Friday from the Kiddie Academy for putting an unknown substance into several children's drink cups.
Gratz is from Hollister and was a teacher at the Kiddie Academy for the last five years. Her primary responsibility as a full time employee was a class of toddlers between one and two years of age.
Investigators say a witness watched Gratz place an unknown substance into the drinking cups of some of the children on Friday. Gratz was confronted by facility administrators and admitted that the substance was "Sominex" a sleeping aid available over the counter. Her reasoning for doing this is still under investigation.
On Monday a search warrant was issued Gratz's home in Hollister. Morgan Hill Police detectives arrested Gratz and booked her in Santa Clara County Jail for felony child endangerment. Evidence was found at her home pertaining to this investigation.
Anyone who may have information regarding this incident or if you believe that your child was under the care of Gratz while at the Kiddie Academy, please contact Morgan Hill Police Department Detective Joe Burdick at 408.779.2101 or the anonymous tip line at 408.947.STOP(7867).
