A Wisconsin jury has delivered a guilty verdict against a former home daycare provider after a 1-year-old boy was returned to his parents with severe burns covering nearly a quarter of his body — and the woman in charge claimed she could not remember what happened.
Maegan Valley, 36, was convicted on charges of child abuse and child neglect following a trial centered on a disturbing April 2024 incident at her unlicensed home daycare. The boy suffered second- and third-degree burns on over 24% of his body and required surgery to treat his injuries.
According to court records, the boy’s parents dropped him off at Valley’s home at 7 a.m. on April 11, 2024. Just ninety minutes later, they received a call from Valley claiming the child had become “really fussy and irritated” and had broken out in what she described as “hives.” Valley’s husband, who was also present in the home, believed his wife’s allergic reaction explanation but later told investigators that the sight of the injured child “scared him to death.”
When the parents rushed their son to the hospital, medical staff immediately identified the injuries as burns — not an allergic reaction.
When police attempted to question Valley at her home, she became uncooperative. She offered shifting explanations, at one point claiming there was a problem with the home’s propane tank. She also told investigators she suffered from “short-term memory loss” caused by cluster migraines and said she simply could not recall what had happened to the child. She eventually refused to answer further questions and demanded officers leave her home.
Investigators concluded the boy’s burns were inconsistent with hot tap water and determined he had been exposed to a heated liquid source while in Valley’s care.
The unlicensed nature of the daycare added further concern to the case, raising questions about oversight and child safety in informal childcare settings.
Valley is scheduled to be sentenced on September 2.
