Dakota County Attorney reviewing case where 3-year-old ingested meth
Pam Bakken, owner of a home day care center and South St. Paul City Council member, took to Facebook and gave her side of the story, for the first time, regarding an investigation into a 3-year-old boy who ingested methamphetamine in December.
That boy’s mother told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS several months ago that her child attended Bakken’s daycare.
In her Facebook post, Bakken said she picked up the young boy at a South St. Paul preschool “and noticed he wasn’t himself.” She called the boy’s mother to pick him up, and he later “tested positive for a controlled substance,” and she said she “placed the call to South St. Paul Police.”
Bakken also stated, “Every adult who encountered the child at my home volunteered to take a hair follicle drug test, and those results were negative, and at no point were drugs found in my home.”
Bakken said she is appealing a decision to indefinitely suspend her daycare license by the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
Victoria Kane, the mother of the 3-year-old boy, declined a request for an interview from 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. But, she issued a statement which said, “Pam Bakken’s continued denial of any possible responsibility in what happened to our son in her home is distressing and shows a lack of fundamental leadership. Our focus at this time is on healing and protecting our family.”
Attempts to reach Bakken for comment Monday regarding her Facebook post were unsuccessful.
The Dakota County Attorney’s Office confirmed that they have received the investigation from the Lakeville Police and are reviewing the case, but declined to provide a timeline for a decision on whether to charge.