Judge rejects plea deal for Lee’s Summit day care owner who failed to report sex abuse
Following a sudden wave of public outcry, a Jackson County judge has rejected a plea deal offered by local prosecutors to a Lee’s Summit day care owner accused of withholding information about the sexual abuse of children under her care.
Emily Hammerly, 49, is charged with felony endangerment of a child’s welfare and failing to report abuse as a mandated reporter. She is accused of not disclosing to authorities sexual assaults allegedly committed by her son Joseph Hammerly, who was charged two years ago with sodomy and sexual abuse involving children.
Authorities have alleged that Emily Hammerly, owner of Little Learner day care, knew about the abuse and did not make a report to police as required by law. Under the proposed plea agreement, Emily Hammerly would have pleaded guilty to both counts and received a sentence of probation for five years, said Mike Mansur, a spokesman for the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Molly Hastings, a defense attorney representing Hammerly, said she intends to file a motion before the court seeking the judge’s removal from the case. In 20 years of practicing law, she said, she has never seen a plea deal be rejected by a judge.
“This was surprising and disappointing and we’re hoping there’s still a way for us to resolve this case in a way that is acceptable to the court,” Hastings said. She added that the arrangement she and the prosecutor had set up is in line with the level of punishment offered in similar criminal cases.
Earlier this week, a Change.org petition began circulating demanding the plea deal be pulled off the table. It had 5,001 signatures as of Monday afternoon. Dozens also participated in a demonstration Monday outside of the courthouse.
Hastings thinks the judge, Kenneth R. Garrett III, bent to public pressure. She also said factually incorrect conclusions were being made by some, including theories that the felony was being dropped and that Emily Hammerly would be allowed to operate a day care if the plea deal went through. Emily Hammerly is banned by the state from operating a day care facility and a condition of the plea deal would have kept her from even entering one, Hastings said.
In a statement, the prosecutor’s office said the arrangement was created in part to prevent three young girls from having to be present in the courtroom for a trial. The prosecutor’s office said the intent was to find justice without subjecting the children to further harm.
The charges against the mother and son stem from an incident first reported in 2019. The Lee’s Summit Police Department opened an investigation after a teacher working at Little Learner accused Joe Hammerly of forcing a 5-year-old girl to perform oral sex on him in a school bathroom.
According to court records, Joe Hammerly was watching a class of five-year-old kids while others were out on a field trip. He was seen on surveillance camera taking a girl into one of the bathrooms, court records said.
The girl told another teacher about the incident. She also told the teacher that Joe Hammerly gave her a piece of apple-flavored candy and told her not to tell anyone about what happened.
Other Little Learner employees brought the allegation to the attention of Emily Hammerly immediately, court records said. One teacher who reported the abuse to Emily Hammerly said she was told to “redirect” the child victim and tell her “we don’t talk like that at school.”
The worker who reported the abuse said Joe Hammerly came to work the next day and the victim was present the entire day.
Another worker of the day care, Emily Hammerly’s nephew, told police he left Joe Hammerly alone with the children for about 30 or 40 minutes that day as he went off to take lunch. He told police it would be highly unusual for children to need assistance using the bathroom. He also said he and Joe Hammerly were called over to his aunt’s home the night the report was made to discuss what occurred.
In an interview with police, Emily Hammerly allegedly said she did not report the incident immediately because her first priority was to contact the girl’s mother. She also said she spoke with her son about the allegation and “there was nothing she found odd, concerning or disbelieving and felt good after their conversation,” court records said.
This story was originally published June 28, 2021 at 6:13 PM.
