Inset: Katelyn Strohacker (Licking County Sheriff's Office). Background: The Over the Rainbow Children Center in Pataskala, Ohio, where Katelyn Strohacker allegedly used painter's tape to bind a 1-year-old child (Google Maps).
An Ohio daycare worker is headed to prison after she admitted to wrapping "painter's tape" around the eyes, feet and hands of a 1-year-old girl while also abusing other young children to the point where they began having "sleep issues" and "night terrors."
Katelyn Strohacker, 23, was sentenced Friday to serve eight to 12 years in prison after she pleaded no contest to 31 counts of kidnapping and child endangerment for multiple incidents at Over the Rainbow Children's Center in Pataskala, according to online court records.
Strohacker was accused of abusing at least eight children, including the 1-year-old girl she allegedly restrained with painter's tape to "administer corporal punishment or other physical disciplinary measure" in a "cruel manner," according to prosecutors. She admitted to using the tape to bind the girl on multiple occasions.
"Only a soulless monster would be capable of abusing defenseless children," said parent Taylor Pineda at Strohacker's sentencing, local CBS affiliate WBNS reports. "The same children you took responsibility for when you became a daycare employee," Pineda told her.
Another father, Ryan Freehafer, said, "My daughter, who had always been joyful and happy, began telling us she was a bad girl, and she would shut down in tears after any correction. My daughter was conditioned by a predatory monster who I dropped her off to each day and will now spend the rest of her childhood trying to rebuild from."
Strohacker did not speak during the hearing. She faced a maximum of 92 years and six months in prison.
Prosecutors said the abuse was discovered after the mother of the girl who had her eyes taped shut contacted police in August 2025 and said she had been contacted by the director of the daycare facility, Jamie Schoelkopf, about the alleged incident.
"The defendant placed painter's tape on [the child's] eyes, taped [the child's] hands behind her back, and taped [the child's] feet together, leaving [the child] face down under a blanket unattended," prosecutors alleged in a bill of particulars detailing allegations against Strohacker. "Detectives continued to investigate the defendant's behavior by reviewing voluminous amounts of video from her prior shifts dating back to a surveillance retention date of July 7, 2025, and video up to August 7, 2025. Law enforcement discovered that the Defendant had done this on at least four prior occasions to [the child], including one incident on July 17, 2025, in which she taped [the child's] hands behind her head and stepped her foot on [the child's] shoulder and neck area."
Strohacker "terrorized" the 1-year-old girl while she was restrained "by acting aggressively and forcefully with the child when she would move her feet," the filing said. "This included yanking the toddler around or acting in a threatening manner," according to prosecutors.
Strohacker targeted seven other children in the monthlong time frame during which surveillance video was kept. One incident that involved a 2-year-old and was captured on video from July 11, 2025, showed Strohacker "purposely shut the victim's finger in a cabinet door," according to prosecutors. Four of Strohacker's victims were seen, evaluated, and treated by multidisciplinary teams at Nationwide Children's Hospital.
"These children, who suffered serious physical harm as a result of the defendant's abuse, have experienced sleep issues/night terrors, separation anxiety, and behavioral issues," prosecutors said in a court filing.
A parent who spoke at Strohacker's sentencing on Friday said, "For our daughter, she's been trapped in a cycle of sleep aggression and night terrors at 2 years old," according to local ABC affiliate WSYX.
Another parent recounted how Strohacker "moved my daughter to a spot out of camera view for nap time, where my baby was screaming for me, her daddy, and her dogs—following what sounded like a strike of some sort," WSYX reports.
"Personally, we hope that … you're never allowed to be alone with children ever again," said one mother. "May God have mercy on your soul, but I can't — because we pray he doesn't."
The Over the Rainbow Children's Center has not responded to Law&Crime's requests for comment. It provided a statement to WBNS last year, saying safety was the "top priority," per the outlet.
"We became aware of an incident with a former employee," the daycare said. "As a result of the incident, both the employee and supervisor have been terminated. We have been in contact with the family of the child involved and reported the incident to authorities."