Eagle Mountain daycare license suspended after owner tells parent not to speak to police

EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah (ABC4) — An Eagle Mountain daycare had its license suspended after the owner was charged with two felonies following an incident of alleged child abuse at the daycare.

Eagle Mountain Kids Care had its license revoked on June 19 because the owner is facing felony charges. DeNae Vanderburg, 33, was charged on July 3 with two counts of witness tampering, a third-degree felony, and five counts of obstruction of justice, a class A misdemeanor.

The incident that led to these charges being filed happened on August 30, 2024, when an employee at Eagle Mountain Kids Care (not Vanderburg) allegedly picked a child up who was crying in a sandbox and “forcefully shoved his face into the sand for several seconds,” according to the indictment.

The employee who allegedly abused the child was charged for the incident, and that case is also ongoing. Reportedly, she admitted to police that she put the child’s face in the sand and said that she was trying to shock him to get him to stop crying.

According to the indictment, another employee reported what happened to Vanderburg, who reportedly told the child’s parents that an employee had “thrown a bit of sand” into the child’s face.

Vanderburg reportedly told investigators that the child’s parent was watching the incident over a live stream and said that the parent did not want to be a witness in the investigation. She also told police she could not give them the parents’ contact information because of privacy concerns and because the parent was no longer a client.

Police claim to have obtained a text message conversation between an employee and Vanderburg where they were discussing video of the incident, and Vanderburg allegedly called the video “very damning.”

Police say that Vanderburg told them that she instructed the child’s parent to delete the footage because it went against the daycare contract for the parent to have it.

When police contacted the child’s parent, she informed them that Vanderburg told her not to speak to police and that Vanderburg could handle it. She also said that Vanderburg called her right before she began to speak with the deputy. Reportedly, Vanderburg told the victim’s parent that the deputy wanted to talk to her, but there must be a misunderstanding, and Vanderburg would clear it up.

The victim’s parent also told the deputy that she never saw any video of the incident and that Vanderburg told her it was another parent who saw the video, and that parent wanted to remain anonymous.

How did the daycare lose its license?

Vanderburg is the DBA for Eagle Mountain Kids Care, meaning that she is “doing business as” the daycare, as the sole proprietor and owner of the business.

According to Utah state code, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) can suspend a license if there is a failure to comply with rules. In this case, Vanderburg could not be licensed as a childcare provider because she has pending felony charges, according to Utah Admin. Code R430-90-8(7). She also failed to pass a background check, and her license was revoked, per Utah Admin. Rule R430-90-8(10).

Vanderburg is required to notify the parents of every child at the daycare about the license being suspended and to post a notice of the suspension visibly on the site of the daycare. The daycare must suspend all childcare services and cannot accept any new enrollments. Vanderburg will also be able to request an administrative hearing to dispute the suspension.