Daycare in Eagle Mountain closes down amid child abuse charges

EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah (ABC4) — A daycare has officially closed down amid allegations of child abuse by one of the teachers. ABC4.com spoke with the daycare’s former owner in an exclusive interview.

On Sept. 5, 2024, Michele Djamous, 22, a teacher at Eagle Mountain Kids Care, was charged with one count of child abuse. The charge was filed based on reports that she had “forcefully put [a child] face first in the sand box for two to three seconds” during an incident that occurred just a few weeks earlier.

Court documents show the child was just 14 months old at the time of the incident.

Starting a daycare

DeNae Vanderburg, a co-owner of Eagle Mountain Kids Care, told ABC4.com Djamous was one of her first employees.

“I wanted to have a daycare that was moms supporting other moms that are working,” Vanderburg said. “That’s ultimately what we did.”

Vanderburg says she initially trusted Djamous. However, she began showing some concerning behaviors leading up to the incident.

“My own son had told me multiple times that Michele had been getting angry,” Vanderburg said. “Michele had kind of just told me that she had been having some mental health issues.”

Vanderburg reportedly spoke with Djamous about her mental health and discussed options.

“My priority is the kids… but if you can’t be there mentally for the kids then I’m going to need you to let me know,” Vanderburg told ABC4.com.

The incident

According to Vanderburg, by the time she heard about an incident involving Djamous, her business had grown enough that she no longer worked on site. Instead, Vanderburg reported working at a nearby hospital, and not spending as much time at the daycare.

Amid concerns about Djamous’ behavior, Vanderburg decided to set up live cameras at the daycare. One day, she noticed something strange on the live feed.

“It looked like Michele had shoved a kid’s face into the sand and was laughing about it,” Vanderburg said.

According to court documents, Djamous admitted to officers she had shoved the child’s face into the sand in attempt to “get him to stop crying.”

On June 19, 2025, the daycare’s license was suspended. Shortly after, Djamous was found guilty of child abuse injury.

Obstruction of Justice charges

Soon after the incident, a deputy with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office began investigating the incident. By June 5, 2025, multiple felony charges were filed against Vanderburg including witness tampering and obstruction of justice.

Charging documents claim Vanderburg instructed a parent to delete any video of the incident, citing a prohibition in the daycare’s contract.

“At that point, the parent had said that if it does come to any legal action, they didn’t want to be involved,” Vanderburg told ABC4.com. “I thought I was covering my bases and, like, protecting myself and protecting that family.”

Documents show Vanderburg wouldn’t share the parent’s contact information with officers due to privacy concerns within the parent’s contract.

“[The deputy] said… I could be fined up to $2,000 and time in jail if I didn’t give them the person’s information,” Vanderburg said. “I was like, ‘well that doesn’t seem right,’ because if they don’t want to be involved, then they can still sue me because I’m breaking our contract.”

At about the same time, Djamous reportedly told the daycare she would no longer be working with them.

“So now you’re quitting, and there’s a lawsuit that is against you, but it’s against me because it’s my business, so cool,” Vanderburg said. However, she claims to have let her go based on a recommendation from the state licensing agency shortly after.

“In my mind, in regards to the daycare, it wasn’t a big deal because we were no longer affiliated with Michele,”

Vanderburg says she was unaware of the charges filed against her until seeing an article on social media two weeks later.

“Our mailbox was full of all these lawyer things,” Vanderburg said. She says, the charges were in the mail, which her and her husband don’t check very often.

Charges dismissed and a plea deal

After charges were filed, Vanderburg’s husband and another teacher led the daycare.

“I even moved out of our house and lived at my parents’ house with our kids during everything,” she said, citing a childcare licensing rule that didn’t allow her to live at the address.

Four charges were dismissed against Vanderburg. For the remaining charges, she reached a plea deal that could lead to all charges being dropped should she follow through on certain conditions.

After reaching the agreement, Vanderburg decided to close the daycare.

“In the end, we are a lot more happy and have our house back,” Vanderburg said. “I appreciate all the families that did stay with us up until we closed, and our head teacher. Their loyalty to us through a rough patch more than they will ever know.”