Informant in Phila. Sting charged with operating unsafe child care center

[JPZenger]

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140329_Day-care_center_tied_to_sting_operative_shut_dowan.html

Under Corbett as Attorney General and his appointed successors, a sting was designed to target African-American politicians in Phila. They used a con-man who had allegedly scammed hundreds of thousands of dollars in day care payments from the state. To convince him to wear the wire, the Repub. prosecutors dropped over 1,000 criminal charges against him. Because those charges were dropped, it appears he was again eligible to run a day care center. Now this happened yesterday:

"...PA. Public Welfare Department officials cited conditions that created a likelihood of an "immediate and serious danger to the life or health" of children at Logan Child Care ...which is owned by Tyron Ali, an undercover operative who sources say taped five Philadelphia Democrats accepting cash or gifts.

...officials issued an emergency removal order, which requires children to be immediately taken from the site. On Thursday, inspectors found 21 violations, according to the removal order.

Three workers lacked proper child-care clearances, and no one had required proof of first-aid training. One worker was supervising 20 children; the required ratio for that mix of infants and toddlers is one staffer for four children. Inspectors saw a 7-month-old in an infant car seat throughout their visit, the removal order said, and an 8-month-old was sleeping face down on a blanket in a playpen."

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Background:

The sting found 4 legislators who would take cash and a traffic court judge who accepted a bracelet. One of the many problems in the investigation is that there is no law against a PA. politician accepting gifts, as long as they didn't promise to take any official action in return. The officials were supposed to report the gifts, but that violation was only a misdemeanor.

Two Republican Attorney Generals did not press charges. Then AG Kane took office, reviewed the case with a Republican County DA and a federal agency, and they all concluded the investigation was not likely to result in a prosecution. Now that Kane is about to release her investigation of Corbett's long-stalled Sandusky investigation, Corbett's chief deputy AG is attacking her for not prosecuting this case. This attack is a pre-emptive strike to defame Kane, before there is public discussion about the screw-ups by Corbett and his appointed assistants.