A Westerville, Ohio day care owner frequently gave six children under her care, including her own two-year-old daughter, baked goods mixed with a combination of melatonin and Benadryl to make them sleep, police say. All of the children were under five years old.
Melatonin is a naturally occurring vitamin and Benadryl is an over-the-counter allergy medicine. Both can make people sleepy.
Tammy Eppley, 37, is charged with six misdemeanor counts of endangering children at the day care center she ran out of her home.
Eppley joked in text messages to a friend that some of the children were “hyperactive”, and that she wanted to drug them because they were “driving me bananas.”
According to Westerville Police, Eppley filmed unconscious children with her phone and said in a text message she’d nearly been exposed by the one of the kids.
“In some of the texts, Tammy jokes about one of the children almost discovering her actions by remarking that the sprinkles on some cupcakes tasted funny,” police wrote in their reports.
Because Eppley was supervising only six children, she was not required to secure a childcare license.
None of the children required medical treatment.