FRANKFORT, KY (Jan. 3, 2025) – Attorney General Russell Coleman announced today the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld the sentences of two Western Kentucky women convicted of abusing infants at the daycare where they were employed. The Attorney General's Office of the Solicitor General defended the convictions before the Commonwealth's highest court.
The abuse was first reported in 2018 regarding Allison Simpson, 27, who was the primary teacher in the nursery at United Methodist Church Daycare in Hopkinsville. Workers at the daycare reported that Simpson would regularly throw children down onto a bed or onto the floor when she was upset with the child. They also recalled Simpson's practice of patting the infants so excessively that it was like beating them. Concerned co-workers talked with parents who later notified Hopkinsville Police.
After reviewing more than 1,000 hours of footage from the daycare, police arrested Simpson and Nina Morgan, 57, Simpson's great aunt, who worked alongside her niece in the nursery. In 2022, Simpson was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Morgan received a 12-month sentence for her role.
Simpson and Morgan were tried together. Beyond video evidence, testimony about the abuse came primarily from the parents of the children. The women appealed their sentences and the admissibility of the parents' testimony along with several other purported errors from the trial court. The Kentucky Supreme Court agreed with the Commonwealth and upheld the women's sentences.
"As parents, we entrust our precious children to be nurtured and cared for at these facilities. The abuse these children endured was heartbreaking, and their families deserve justice," said Attorney General Coleman. "Our appellate attorneys worked hard to uphold the convictions secured by Special Prosecutor and Commonwealth's Attorney Blake Chambers to show there are serious consequences for this abusive behavior."
Assistant Solicitor General and Director of Capital Litigation Chris Henry represented the Commonwealth on appeal.
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