Inset (left): Hannah Priest (Iowa Department of Public Safety). Inset (right): Sebastian Jespersen (Martin-Mattice Funeral Home). Background: Methodist Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa (Google Maps).
An Iowa woman who used to run a daycare will spend years in prison after one of the children in her care died.
Hannah Priest, 31, pleaded guilty to child endangerment resulting in death last month, almost four years after 23-month-old Sebastian Jespersen died following an incident at her daycare. According to the Iowa Department of Public Safety, medical personnel responded to a call on Jan. 19, 2023, from the home in Emmetsburg, Iowa, where Priest ran her daycare service. Priest told first responders that she found Sebastian unresponsive after she put him down for a nap in his sleeping cot.
The boy died in the hospital days later.
According to court documents obtained by local NBC affiliate KTIV, an autopsy revealed that Sebastian had suffered brain trauma consistent with inflicted injuries. When Priest spoke with authorities, she denied that Sebastian had been injured in an accident and said none of the other children had harmed him.
Priest told police that Sebastian was acting normally before she put him down for his nap. The investigation took several months, and during an interview in May 2023, Priest admitted to police that she had become frustrated with Sebastian around the time he was supposed to take his nap. According to court documents, Priest said Sebastian had not gone to the bathroom yet that day. Out of frustration, she said she put Sebastian into his cot by his shoulders but was unaware of her own strength when she set him down.
Sebastian died a couple of weeks before his second birthday.
Priest was sentenced on Monday to up to 50 years in prison, though she will be eligible for parole.
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