Daycare Provider Charged for Pinning Kids to Bed

GOLDEN VALLEY - A 70-year-old woman was charged for pinning down a child to the bed out of her in-home daycare in Golden Valley.

The daycare is located at 6050 Duluth Lane in Golden Valley.

Arvilla Meinhardt was charged with malicious punishment of a child and false imprisonment.

Police arrested Meinhardt at her home in Golden Valley last week after a 4-year-old told her mother that Meinhardt pinned the child's pajamas to her mattress during nap time.

While searching the home, investigators found several pairs of pajamas with safety pins still in them, shoved under a bed. They also found pajamas and a mattress in a crib with pin holes in them.

Investigators say Meinhardt would basically put a child in pajamas, but instead of putting their arms in the sleeves, she would leave their arms down by their sides and zip it up. Then she would pin the sleeves behind their back. She basically turned the pajamas into a makeshift straightjacket. She would also pin their pajama legs together so they have a harder time moving and pin the zipper closed so they couldn't get out.

Meinhardt admitted she's used safety pins as a form of discipline in her daycare for the past eight years. She said she only used them on children who were two to three years old and never told their parents.

The state has ordered the woman's daycare license suspended immediately. But prosecutors want her license permanently revoked, so she'll be out of business for good.