DES MOINES – A Fort Dodge woman who was seen choking a child at the daycare she worked at and was soon convicted of child endangerment has had her conviction upheld by the Iowa Court of Appeals.
According to court records, in May 2018, 40-year-old Shanna Dessinger of Fort Dodge worked at a daycare in Webster county, Iowa. Children were assigned to different rooms based on their age. On May 9, Dessinger was assigned to the four-year-olds’ room. In the adjacent room, Demetria Gully worked in the two-year- olds. A wall separated the rooms. There was a large window in the wall. According to Gully, she looked through the window and saw Dessinger grab a child by the neck, strangle him, and throw him down to the ground. Gully testified that she had a clear view of this incident and she was absolutely sure it happened. She immediately went to the daycare supervisor, Cori Jewett, to report it.
Jewett told Dessinger to leave. Jewett and Gully talked to the child, D.A.J., and asked him to demonstrate what happened. He put his hands around his neck and appeared to strangle himself. Meanwhile, D.A.J.’s father arrived to pick him up. Both Jewett and D.A.J. told the father what happened. The father reported the incident to the police. Officer Paul Samuelson arrived and interviewed witnesses.
Dessinger denies any wrongdoing. Instead, she contends she told the children to clean up after play time. D.A.J. appeared to struggle getting an apron off. Dessinger tried to help him. During that process, Dessinger stumbled. Although Dessinger was able to catch herself, she concedes D.A.J. might have fallen. But Dessinger denied strangling D.A.J. or squeezing his neck.
The State charged Dessinger with child endangerment and a jury found Dessinger guilty as charged. She was sentenced to a suspended 11-month jail term and financial costs. On appeal, the court remanded the financial end for re-sentencing but upheld the conviction.
