Former Jefferson County daycare owner faces child abuse charge amid investigations into facility

A former at-home daycare owner facing a misdemeanor child abuse charge is slated to appear in Jefferson County court Thursday morning.

Ruba Sawakid is set to be arraigned in connection with a biting incident that happened at Noony's Daycare in February.

Denver7's Jefferson County reporter Allie Jennerjahn has the story in the video below:

The charge comes after a mother decided to press charges after she said her 15-month-old child came home covered in bruises and bite marks.

The case is one part of a bigger story involving multiple investigations into the daycare.

"It just really left us wondering what happened when we, you know, pressed for some more information. The response that we got is that she just has sensitive skin, and I knew that it was definitely more than sensitive skin," Becky Emerson, the parent of the injured child, said.

"The Department of Human Services got involved and did an investigation. Law enforcement got involved, did an investigation. I know that licensing went out following those investigations, and licensing made some findings for licensing violations," Emerson said.

Even so, Noony's continued to be operational. Other parents Denver7 spoke to said they had no idea that investigation had taken place until September, when parents were told to come pick up their kids because a baby had choked and was unconscious.

Documents obtained by Denver7 said the baby was taken to the hospital in near-fatal condition.

According to the family's support page, that child is still fighting for his life.

Sawakid's license was suspended, and Westminster police have opened a criminal investigation.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.