Treasure Times Daycare Center
/ file photo
ROME, ONEIDA COUNTY -- The State Office of Children and Family Services confirms with CNY Central that the office has sent investigators to Treasure Times Daycare Center in Rome, New York. The investigators are looking into reports that the center is operating despite the revocation of their license.
The center was supposed to have closed Monday under state order. Office of Children and Family Services spokesperson Pat Cantiello tells CNY Central “Investigators have arrived today and found that there were children at the center”, an apparent violation of that order.
As CNY Central reported last week, the center could repoen under a new name, Delta Lake Daycare. That license application is still pending, but Cantiello says there are “issues to be decided” regarding that license.
The state has issued a cease and desist order against both day care centers, which could result in a $500 per day fine against the owner of Treasure Times, Crystal Pelton. Pelton was unavailable for comment on Tuesday’s developments, according to the person who answered the phone at the center.
CNY Central approached Steve Pelton, the husband of Crystal Pelton, for an interview on Tuesday. Click on the video tab or link to watch the confrontation between Pelton and reporter Jim Kenyon and photographer Brian Erb. Pelton later called Kenyon Tuesday afternoon to apologize for the incident. He reiterated that the center was kept open for the sake of the children and their parents. Pelton says he's been under a great deal of stress because of the state investigation and the publicity.
Meanwhile, the Office of Children and Family Services is directing parents to the Mid-York Child Care Center where they can receive help finding another licensed day care facility.
