How this headline may connect to industries in Indiana. Technical scores are below — click any ? for what a metric means.
'Devastating consequences' | 4 families file civil lawsuits against Brownsburg daycare where their children were allegedly sexually abused | wthr.com.BROWNSBURG, Ind.— Four families have filed civil lawsuits against a Brownsburg daycare where eight children were allegedly sexually abused.Attorneys Catherine Michael, Connell Michael and Tammy Meyer announced Wednesday, May 20 that they have filed civil tort lawsuits on behalf of four families whose young children were sexually abused while attending Main Street University 4Kidz.The civil filings come after the sentencing of former daycare owner Nancy Minton.Minton pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent and failure to report.She was sentenced to two years in prison, followed by 180 days of probation on April 30 in Hendricks Superior Court.Minton was facing three counts each of obstruction of justice and failure to make a report and one count of neglect of a dependent.The civil lawsuits allege the children were "abused in a setting where they should have been safest" and that "multiple individuals and entities failed to fulfill their legal duties to protect them." The attorneys say the filings "seek to hold each of those parties answerable for their role in the harm, and to secure compensation for extensive and ongoing damages, including psychological trauma, emotional distress and the cost of future counseling and treatment." The lawsuits also allege the abuse was "preventable" and that "warning signs were ignored." The attorneys say the civil litigation is "designed to expose the full scope of institutional failures and to ensure that no party who shared in the duty to protect these children is allowed to escape responsibility." "The criminal cases address the serious failures that occurred and that those failures had devastating consequences," Michael said in a news release."But these families are entitled to more than criminal convictions.They deserve answers, accountability from every responsible party, and the resources necessary to help their children heal." "These children were entrusted to the care of adults and institutions that had both the responsibility and the legal obligation to protect them," Meyer said in a news release."That trust was profoundly violated.The effects of this trauma will follow these families for the rest of their lives." Minton was the owner of Main Street University 4 Kidz, where police conducted an investigation against former daycare employee Gabriel Garner, who was arrested in May 2025 on charges of child molestation and child exploitation.Minton and daycare director Jennyfer Lingbeck were arrested May 16, 2026, with Lingbeck facing the same changes Minton faced.Garner was ultimately charged with 48 felony counts, including child molest, child exploitation, vicarious sexual gratification and possession of child pornography.Police said detectives originally identified six victims of child exploitation between the ages of 3 and 5 who were in the approximately 130 photos found on Garner's cellphone that GPS data linked to Main Street University 4 Kidz.According to Michael and Meyer, a total of eight victims have been identified.According to police, detectives have identified and contacted the known victims Garner allegedly abused at the day care.The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning issued a letter to Main Street University 4 Kidz on May 8, requiring the daycare to close immediately.Michael and Meyer issued a release April 29, 2026, calling Minton's plea change "a meaningful step toward accountability." "Accountability cannot stop with the person who committed the abuse," the attorneys wrote."It must also extend to those who had the power, and the legal duty, to stop it and failed to do so." Legal proceedings against Lingbeck are ongoing, including a hearing currently scheduled for June 1, 2026.The parents of one of the alleged victims in the case filed a civil lawsuit against Minton, Lingbeck and Main Street University 4 Kidz in December 2025, claiming negligence by the defendants, alleging Minton and Lingbeck did not report allegations against Garner to police or the state, as required by law.It also states information from the criminal case about the sexual acts Garner allegedly did to the children.Garner is not named as a defendant in that civil suit.