AUSTINTOWN Teen charged with abuse at day care

The children involved are between 4 and 10 years old.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- A 16-year-old boy is facing several charges of sexually abusing six children at his mother's home day-care business.
Brian Dudek, of 3849 Cumberland Drive, is charged with 12 counts of gross sexual imposition. That's two counts for each of the six victims.
Dudek has not been arrested, but he will be served with a copy of the charges, police said. The charges were filed by prosecutors in Mahoning County Juvenile Court on Friday afternoon, police said. Dudek's arraignment has not been scheduled.
The day-care business, which has no name, is at 3849 Cumberland Drive. Dudek's parents have not been charged with any crime.
Detective Sgt. Ray Holmes said the children involved are between the ages of 4 and 10, and most are girls.
Investigation
In April, an Austintown school counselor told Holmes that parents had told her their children may have been abused at the home day-care business. Holmes then went to the home and spoke to Dudek's mother, Cindi, who was watching several children at the time.
When parents arrived at the day care, he told them of the accusations. Holmes asked parents to speak with their children and to contact police if they suspected abuse.
Later, a caseworker from the Mahoning County Children Services Board interviewed suspected victims and determined they had been abused.
The children said Dudek's mother had been in her yard or out of the home running errands when the abuse occurred, Holmes said. Authorities said the teenage boy had the children touch him.
Day-care regulations
Holmes called state officials to discuss day-care regulations during the investigation. He said Dudek's mother told him that the center didn't need a license because she cared for fewer than eight children.
However, Jon Allen, a spokesman for the state Department of Job and Family Services, said state law requires day-care providers to have a license if they care for seven or more children.
Allen said the state received two complaints that Dudek's mother was caring for seven or more children. After the first complaint, in October 1999, Dudek's mother signed a statement that she wouldn't care for more than six children.
After the second complaint, about a week after Holmes first heard the allegation of sex abuse, a state inspector visited the day care and found Dudek's mother watching one child, Allen said.