Suspect arrested after NYC trip
One of the suspects accused of abusing and neglecting children at an Abbotsford daycare was arrested at the airport in Mosinee last Thursday and charged with felony bail jumping after taking an unauthorized trip to New York City.
Rachel M. Konieczny, 33, was apprehended at Central Wisconsin Airport on Jan. 30 after police were able to track her movements based on “check-in” posts on her Facebook page.
Officers at the Colby- Abbotsford Police Department were informed early last week that Konieczny had checked in at a restaurant in New York City, despite the fact she is not allowed to leave Wisconsin without approval by the court.
The “check-in” feature on Facebook allows users to inform others where they’re at based on the GPS coordinates of their phones. Someone took a screenshot of Konieczny’s check-in post on Monday, Jan. 27, and provided it to police.
Her Facebook page also showed her checking in at various “tourist type places” throughout New York, along with pictures of her trip, according to the police report.
After Konieczny checked in at LaGuardia International Airport in New York, a CAPD officer contacted the Mosinee Police Department and was able to get a flight manifest from CWA with Konieczny’s name on it. Officers were waiting for her at the airport Thursday night when her flight arrived.
The CAPD officer noted that Konieczny walked right past him and a Mosinee officer, and he had to call her name out twice before she stopped. When informed of the probation violation, she said her attorney was “supposed to have taken care of that,” according to the report.
Konieczny tried to get a hold of her attorney but was unable to. She was arrested, taken to Clark County Jail and appeared in court the next day.
Judge Lyndsey Brunette set a $2,500 cash bond and scheduled an initial appearance for Feb. 12, at the same time she is slated to be back in court on charges related to her family’s home-based daycare in Abbotsford. Konieczny posted the bond on Monday.
Konieczny faces 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. Her mother, Naomi Konieczny, also faces 25 similar charges and her father, Gary, faces a single count of recklessly endangering safety.
The three family members were charged in December after being accused of mistreating and neglecting several children under their care. Their daycare was shut down last April after police and social workers discovered several small children in a pair of bedrooms, confined in car seats, high-chairs and playpens. One playpen had plywood over the top to keep the child from escaping.
When she first appeared in court on Jan. 10, Rachel told the judge that she had hired an attorney, but as of yet, no one has filed a notice of retainer. Her parents are being represented by attorney Karl Kelz, according to court records.
