“Probation only in this case ….

“Probation only in this case would certainly depreciate the seriousness of all the offenses — neglect, recklessly endangering safety — all those charges,” she said. “Although these cases are your first criminal cases, sometimes confinement is warranted at the first step.”

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, 2019, 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 and other items placed on top to keep the child from crawling out.

Inlow noted that the case involved a total of at least 31 child victims ranging in age from less than a year to 10 years old. She also cited a statement Konieczny made to an investigating police officer: “The state that the children were held in was pretty much inhumane torture,” Koniezny reportedly said, describing it as “no different than a prisoner of war camp.”

Pictures of the daycare’s back bedrooms, with kids kept in car seats, high chairs and pack-and-plays, were displayed to the courtroom. Inlow noted the large mounds of clothing and other clutter in the bedrooms that posed risks of suffocation to the restrained children. A photo of unexplained bruises on a child’s hand was also shown.

“It looks like it was pinched or squeezed,” Inlow said.

The children kept in the back bedrooms were discovered by social service workers and police who were responding to a complaint from one of the older children who had been staying there. Inlow went into great detail about the conditions the children were left in, and what lengths the Koniecznys went to conceal the abuse and neglect from the parents.

“Ms. Konieczny and her parents were responsible for caring for the most vulnerable of our population — our children — many of whom were not old enough to speak up and disclose to their parents what was happening,” she said. “Many of them were not old enough to understand that was happening was neglect or abuse.”

Besides keeping the kids confined for hours at a time, the Koniecznys have also been accused of giving some of the children Benadryl to make them sleep, denying them food, and subjecting them to physical force.

“If the children screamed or tried to get away, they were picked up and slammed to the ground,” Inlow said.

One child told police that Konieczny enlisted the help of her own daughter to “get a child out of there,” prompting Konieczny’s daughter to drag another child by a hood, to the point where the child “could be heard gasping for breath,” Inlow said.

During interviews with police, Inlow said Konieczny often justified the abuse and neglect of the children, blaming them for being too unruly and not doing what they were told. She noted that the defendant referred to one of the victims as “a pathological liar.”

The social workers witnessed Konieczny knocking the children in car seats against people and objects and being belligerent toward authorities, the district attorney pointed out.

Even though Konieczny had no prior criminal history, Inlow noted that she violated her bond without remorse, leaving the state and then attempting to blame an attorney who she had not yet retained.

“She spoke directly to the court staff and was given directions on how to avoid violating her bond, but chose not to comply with those instructions,” Inlow said.

The pre-sentencing investigation indicated that Konieczny had suffered abuse and neglect herself when she was growing up, but Inlow noted that she was also a mother and a trained EMT, making her a mandatory reporter of child abuse.

Inlow concluded that the need for deterrence was high in this case due to the “egregious violation of a public trust.”

“We need other daycare providers, licensed or unlicensed, in similar situations to know how seriously we take these offenses,” she said.

The defense speaks

Defense attorney Jerome Babiak said his client is remorseful for all that she has done to the victims and their families.

“It should never have gotten to this point. It should never have happened,” he said. “Since this incident has occurred, my client has wanted nothing more than to go back and right a wrong.”

Babiak emphasized that Konieczny was raised in the same type of abusive household as the daycare kids were, and even though she moved out at one point and was pursuing a degree in nursing, she was “financially forced” to move back in with her parents in January 2019.

“My client became a product of the environment she was in,” he said. “That’s not her way of shifting, that’s not her way of deflecting from what she’s here for today. She’s not denying responsibility.”

Even after the charges were filed against her, Babiak said his client got a job as a claims adjuster at an insurance company and has been working there ever since. He said her trip to New York City in January of 2020 was actually a performance-based reward she got from her employer.

“My client didn’t choose to go to New York because she wanted to have a fun weekend,” he said. “She didn’t choose to go to New York because it was a way to hang out with friends. She had to earn the trip from work there.”

Babiak said she eventually took ownership of that decision by pleading guilty to bail jumping.

The defense attorney also asked the judge to consider character letters submitted by her boyfriend, friends and co-workers, describing her as a “loving, caring person who needs help.” He advocated for a total of nine months in jail, followed by seven to eight years of extended supervision. “It gives my client the opportunity to feel what it’s like to be incarcerated, and impresses upon her the seriousness of the offense,” he said, while also giving her a chance to be home with her daughter and continue to be a productive member of society.

Speaking through sobs, Konieczny apologized “for all of the horrible things I’ve done.”

“I know what I did was wrong,” she said. “I should have done something about it. I take full responsibility for the crimes, and I want to make things right. I need help.”

Before announcing her sentence, Judge Brunette did not mince words when describing the seriousness of the crimes Konieczny committed.

“You may not be evil, but the types of treatment and inhumane situations that these children were subjected to is nothing but evil,” she told Konieczny.

Although the judge acknowledged that Konieczny needs professional help for a variety of issues, including anger management and trauma recovery, she also questioned whether the defendant was truly remorseful about her actions based on her documented behavior in the past.

“It’s not lost on this court that you and your co-defendants took extreme measures to hide and be deceptive about the abuse and neglect that was happening in that daycare — if we can even call it that,” she said, noting that it was more of “a house of terror” based on Konieczny’s own descriptions.

Judge Brunette said the parents of the victims should not feel guilty, as the Koniecznys did everything they could to hide the mistreatment.

The judge said incarceration is needed not just as a punishment and a deterrent, but to ensure that Konieczny is getting the help that she needs to be rehabilitated.

“No court ever wants to place a defendant back into the community in the same state we originally had them in,” she said.

After she is released from prison, Konieczny will not be allowed to have contact with anyone under the age of 18, and will not be able to own a firearm or vote in elections. She will also be required to undergo counseling and maintain full-time employment or education.

Naomi and Gary Konieczny have retained their own attorney and are scheduled to have a status conference in their case on June 30.

Gary Konieczny