MANCHESTER, Mo. — The director of a St. Louis County child care facility was charged after a bag of meth was found on the floor of the facility's infant room, police say.
Nichole Doster, director of Kidsplay Child Care and Preschool in Manchester, was charged by the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office with possession of a controlled substance and eight separate counts of first-degree child welfare endangerment — one for each infant who was in the room.
Doster, who was employed at Kidsplay for two years and had gone through a background check before her hiring, was immediately fired after the incident, a facility administrator told 5 On Your Side.
The Manchester Police Department said officials were called on June 16 by the childcare facility, located at 459 Lafayette Center, for a report of a possible controlled substance found in the facility's infant room.
Officers found a baggie containing "a large crystalline structure and crystalline dust," a probable cause statement said. At the time the baggie was found, eight infants were in the room.
The investigation revealed Doster to be the one that left the baggie in the room, documents said.
She allowed police to search her purse and they found a small pocket located on its interior wall. Officers opened it and found a baggie containing crystals.
Lab analysis confirmed the substances in both baggies were methamphetamine.
A Kidsplay facility administrator said children were removed from the room after the discovery and none of them were exposed. Parents were notified and the room was then cleaned and sanitized.
Doster was being held on a $75,000 bond.
