Defendant in daycare case takes plea deal
Rachel Konieczny convicted of five felony offenses
By Kevin O’Brien
One of the defendants in a 2019 child abuse case at an Abbotsford daycare has been convicted of felony child neglect and reckless endangerment. She will be sentenced in May Rachel Konieczny 34, formerly of Abbotsford, pled no contest last Thursday to three counts of felony neglect of a child under six, four counts of misdemeanor child neglect and one count of second degree reck- ^ ess endangerment, a felony Konieczny and her parents, Naomi and Gary, were charged in 2019 with multiple counts of felony child neglect and abuse after police and social workers uncovered evidence that they were mistreating children at their home-based daycare on Elm Street in Abbotsford.
The charges were filed eight months after an April 3 inspection of the daycare revealed a pair of back bedrooms where children were strapped into car seats and high chairs. One child was found inside a pack-and-play with plywood placed on top to keep the child from crawling out.
Last week, Konieczny appeared via Zoom with her attorney Jerry Babiak, in Clark County Circuit Court, along with district attorney Melissa Inlow and Judge Lyndsey Brunette.
Inlow and Babiak told Judge Brunette that they had reached a plea agreement in which Konieczny would accept a guilty verdict on four felony charges and four misdemeanors. In exchange, 12 oth-
See DAYCARE/ Page 10 er charges were dismissed but read into the record.
Konieczny also pled no contest to a charge of felony bail jumping, which stemmed from an unauthorized trip to New York City she took in 2020 while out on bond for the child neglect charges.
The district attorney’s office is recommending three years of jail and four years of extended supervision on the most serious charge of reckless endangerment.
On the three felony neglect charges, the recommended sentence is a year and a half in jail and one year of extended supervision, and on the four misdemeanor charges, nine months of jail is recommended on each charge. A six-month jail sentence is also recommended for the felony bail jumping charge.
All of the sentences would be served concurrently, so the most time she would spend in jail is three years, followed by four years of extended supervision.
As a condition of her extended supervision, she would not be allowed to care for anyone under the age of 18 and would be barred from having contact with the victims of their families. She would also be required to maintain employment and pay any restitution and court costs that are ordered.
Since she is a convicted felon, Konieczny is not allowed to own or possess a firearm or vote in elections.
Judge Brunette reminded Konieczny that she does not have to follow the DA’s sentencing recommendations and could impose the maximum sentence on each of the charges for which she was convicted.
The felony reckless endangerment charge carries a maximum punishment of 10 years in jail, along with a $25,000 fine. The felony neglect charges carry a three-year maximum sentence, and each misdemeanor neglect charge could result in a up to nine months in jail.
Six years in jail and a $10,000 fine is the maximum punishment for felony bail jumping.
A pre-sentencing investigation has been ordered, the findings of which could have impact on the sentence handed down by Judge Brunette.
An in-person sentencing hearing has been scheduled for May 20, at which time the victims’ families will be allowed to read statements to the court.
Naomi and Gary Konieczny, meanwhile, have a status conference scheduled for May 6 in Clark County Circuit Court. They recently obtained a new attorney, Wright Laufenberg.
The Clark County Department of Human Services first received a complaint about the daycare on March 26, 2019, based on statements from a child who “was very upset and crying about what she witnessed at the residence.” During a follow-up investigation, several parents told police and social workers that their children would often come home hungry and appearing traumatized. The daycare providers were also accused of using medicine to make the kids fall asleep.
Rachel Konieczny initially faced 20 felony charges, including 16 counts of neglecting a child, two counts of causing mental harm to a child, one count of recklessly endangering safety and one count of child abuse, recklessly causing harm as party to a crime.
Konieczny was arrested at the Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee on Jan. 20, 2020, after she returned from a trip to New York City. She was out on bond at the time and was not allowed to leave Wisconsin without court authorization. Police were tipped off to her trip after she posted about it on Facebook.
PLEA HEARING -Rachel Konieczny and her attorney, Jerry Babiak (bottom left) appeared via Zoom at a plea hearing last Thursday in Clark County Circuit Court. Also pictured is Judge Lyndsey Brunette (bottom center) and district attorney Melissa Inlow (top right).STAFF PHOTO/KEVIN O’BRIEN
