Megan West told the court that what Chloe Kaye Johnson did while working at a Blaine day care center was “evil and vile” and that the “punishment should reflect that.”

Chloe Kaye Johnson (Courtesy of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office)

West’s husband, Rep. Nolan West, R-Blaine, stood beside her as Johnson faced an Anoka County judge for sentencing after pleading guilty to felony malicious punishment of a child in connection with the abuse at Small World Learning Center in 2024.

The couple’s daughter, Sibyl, then 5 months old, was one of several infants that Johnson and her co-defendant Elizabeth Augusta Wiemerslage were alleged to have abused from late 2023 into July 2024.

“She lied to me about how my daughter acquired her injuries,” Megan West said of Johnson before Judge Michelle Davis followed a December plea deal and gave her a 30-day jail sentence and five years of probation.

Johnson, 25, of Andover, received two days of custody credit, and can serve the time on work release. Five other charges, including third-degree assault, were dismissed at Johnson’s sentencing as part of her plea deal.

“A mere 30 days for hurting defenseless infants is a joke,” West told Davis before the sentence was imposed.

Elizabeth Augusta Wiemerslage Courtesy of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office)

In May, Wiemerslage, 24, of Coon Rapids, was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years’ probation after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting third-degree assault and aiding and abetting malicious punishment of a child. She also reached a plea deal that included four other charges being dismissed.

Another mother, Janice Degonda, told the court that her then 5-month-old daughter came home with bruises to her leg, groin and elsewhere in July 2024.

“I will never understand why my daughter and multiple babies were treated this way,” she said. “They were tiny babies … I will never forget what happened, and never forgive these abusers.”

Video footage

Investigators saw evidence of other abuse but not as much as was alleged by Degonda, the Wests and other families who sent their children to Small World Learning Center, which deletes video footage after one week.

Nolan West told reporters at a Capitol news conference on Tuesday about “Harvey’s Law,” a bill he is proposing that calls for cameras in infant and toddler rooms at child care facilities that receive state funding.

The bill is in response to the suffocation death of 11-month-old Harvey Muklebust at a Savage day care last September.

Day care worker Theah Loudemia Russell, 19, confessed to suffocating Harvey and attempting to suffocate another child, according to murder and assault charges.

“I never thought about cameras in child care until July 16, 2024,” Harvey’s mother, Catherine Muklebust, said Tuesday. “I assumed like any other parent that when you drop your kid off, they’re going to be taken care of with love and affection.

Admitted ‘too rough’

According to the criminal complaints against Johnson and Wiemerslage, the parents of a 5-month-old reported alleged abuse in July 2024 after finding bruising on her thighs, groin, buttocks and legs.

Day care surveillance video showed Johnson grabbing the infant by her lower body and “violently” flipping the child onto her back on a floor mat, the complaints say. The infant’s face hit the mat repeatedly during the incident, with Wiemerslage just a few feet away.

Police identified two other victims and contacted their parents.

In another video, Johnson picked up a second infant and held a cloth to the baby’s mouth and nose for several seconds while the child was crying. Johnson then gripped the child by the neck and shoved a bottle repeatedly in and out of the baby’s mouth. Later, Wiemerslage picked up the child and “violently slammed” her down on a support pillow, the charges say.

At another time, Wiemerslage picked up a third infant and “aggressively” shoved the child down onto a changing table. Later, Wiemerslage “violently” picked up the infant by the arm and “aggressively” moved the child around on a mat as Johnson watched.

Johnson initially told officers she was helping the infants learn how to roll over, but ultimately admitted she was “too rough, and admitted her behavior could have caused the (5-month old’s) bruising,” the complaint said. “(Wiemerslage) also admitted to her behavior and that it was wrong.”

Medical examinations showed the 5-month-old girl had bruising in nine areas that were consistent with a “grip injury” or “squeeze‐type injury,” while another infant was found to have a healing leg fracture “suspicious for nonaccidental trauma,” the complaint said.

Bruising was found on three other infants who were in the care of Wiemerslage and Johnson.

‘Parental rage’

Christina Pech told the court Friday that her then-5-month-old son began coming home with bruises shortly after going to Small World Learning Center. A CT scan showed a fractured leg.

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“We couldn’t understand how anyone could do this to our son,” she said

They then were told the day care center’s camera footage went back one week, Pech said, adding that “the parental rage began to kick in.”

Johnson’s attorney Paul Young told Judge Davis that “the court has to see the law and the facts” and noted how his client pleaded guilty to the sole count of the criminal complaint. He asked for 240 hours of community service in lieu of a jail sentence.

Johnson declined to speak before hearing her sentence.

“When someone in a position you were in intentionally causes harm to a child, as you must know by now, the impact of that behavior reaches far beyond any physical injuries that you caused,” Davis said.