Docs: Brownsburg daycare employee sexually exploited children

BROWNSBURG, Ind. - An Avon man has been arrested and accused of sexually exploiting children at a Brownsburg daycare.




According to Hendricks County Jail logs, 22-year-old Gabriel Garner was booked on Tuesday at 2 p.m. The charge he is being held on is molesting a child under 14 years of age.

A probable cause affidavit filed on Wednesday indicates investigators with the Brownsburg Police Department found numerous inappropriate images on Garner's phone. The images allegedly showed Garner committing sexual acts with children at Main Street University 4 Kidz.




Police reported that Garner also had pictures of students touching him inappropriately.




Court records indicate police found more than 130 images on Garner's phone that they could connect directly to the daycare via GPS data. According to the affidavit, police are still processing more than 125,000 pornographic images that were on Garner's phone. It is unclear exactly how many of the 125,000 photos were taken at Main Street University for Kids, as police uncovered a connection between Garner and an online group of child pornographers who appeared to be trading images with each other during their investigation.




In their report, police confirmed that many images on Garner's phone were not associated with Main Street University for Kids.




According to court documents, police conducted an interview with Garner on Friday. Investigators indicated that, from the start of their conversation with him, Garner appeared to be uncomfortable. Police reported that Garner was "cotton-mouthed, his lips appeared to be dry, extremely nervous and was laughing."




Initially, Garner denied having engaged in inappropriate activity with daycare students. But when police suggested that daycare cameras can capture a lot of footage, Garner became extremely uncomfortable, per court records.




As police continued to press him about his alleged activity, Garner smiled and laughed numerous times. At one point in their affidavit, investigators wrote that Garner "kept smiling at (police) while he was explaining what he did, which was awkward, as if Garner was enjoying talking about the sexual act with (a student)."




Police indicated that Garner's demeanor changed when they told him they had a search warrant for his phone. Per court records, Garner put his head down on the table and looked away from investigators when they told him about the warrant. Police reported that Garner was also "shaking his head in disgust" when he learned about the warrant.




Court records indicate Garner even turned away from police when they began asking him about the materials on his phone.




When policed asked Garner if he was attracted to children, he just looked at investigators while laughing. Officers then followed up with Garner, asking again if he was attracted to children. Police reported that Garner appeared to indicate that he was attracted to children.




At one point during the interview, an officer told Garner "he needed help." Garner reportedly laughed at the officer who suggested that he needed help.




When the officer asked Garner if he needed or wanted help, Garner reportedly said "Of course I don't."




Police indicated that many of the photos on Garner's phone were dated from 2023 to late 2024. During his interview with officers, Garner indicated that he used to be a full-time employee at the daycare.




According to court documents, Garner started at the daycare via an internship he had while he was a student at Brownsburg High School.




Garner told police he had recently become a part-time employee at the daycare because he began working as an independently contracted delivery driver for Amazon.




Police began looking into Garner's activity after the Department of Child Services received a report pertaining to Main Street University 4 Kidz in April.




The report detailed three separate incidents, including one where Garner sent an inappropriate message to a student's guardian, asking the guardian if the student had a foot fetish because the student kept touching Garner's sock.




Upon investigating the reported incidents, police learned that some members of the daycare staff and ownership team allegedly failed to report Garner's behavior to police or DCS.




Police also spoke with parents who had made complaints to the daycare's staff about Garner. Court documents indicate those parents were told by staff that the daycare investigated such complaints internally, unless a child was acting out or if there was video proof that a crime may have occurred.




Some of the parents police spoke with claimed daycare staff reassured them that inappropriate activity could not possibly occur at the daycare because it is video surveilled and select staff members like Garner are seldomly alone with the children.




The parents told police that members of the daycare staff seemed as though they did not want to call DCS, and preferred to try to talk parents out of calling police.




According court documents, police told parents that it is "Main Street University 4 Kidz legal and moral responsibility to contact DCS and or police when an allegation comes in like this. They are required by The State of Indiana to report these as mandatory reporters and that it is a criminal act to not report."




Police also obtained recorded conversations members of the Main Street University 4 Kidz staff had with parents. During the conversations, staff members allegedly attempted to justify why they do in-house investigations instead of contacting DCS. During the recorded conversations, references were made to an incident where members of the staff at a Brownsburg elementary school failed to report abuse to DCS.




The affidavit does not specifically name which elementary school case was referenced in the conversations, though FOX59/CBS4 have been following one particular abuse case involving a Brownsburg elementary school for years. Numerous individuals were criminally charged for failing to report an incident to DCS in the case FOX59/CBS4 have been following.




As of this article's publication, none of the Main Street University 4 Kidz staff members mentioned in the affidavit have been charged with crimes related to failing to report abuse. As a result, FOX59/CBS4 have chosen not to name the individuals who allegedly failed to report Garner's activity.




During his interview with police, Garner said the daycare was a "mess" when he first started working there. He also told police that daycare employees were not properly trained.




Garner reportedly told police that employees are not allowed to be on their own with students during their first few weeks of employment.




When police asked Garner if Main Street University 4 Kidz did any training on mandatory reporting, he said there is a course that employees can do on their own. According to court documents, Garner appeared to emphasize that employees did the training independently.




Garner told police that daycare management required members of the staff to complete a certain number of hours of online training. Garner indicated that the training hours helped staff obtain some certifications. Per court records, Garner did not specify how many hours of training were required and what certifications members of the staff obtained.




FOX59/CBS4 called Main Street University 4 Kidz for a statement on Garner's arrest Wednesday afternoon. The daycare's staff members reported that they will not be putting out a statement until police have completed their investigation of the alleged incidents.




Indiana's public court reporting system indicates Garner is due in court for an initial hearing on Friday. As of this article's publication, no additional information on Garner's case had been made available.




FOX59/CBS4 contacted the Brownsburg Police Department about Garner's case Wednesday evening. Law enforcement is encouraging parents who believe their children were victims of abuse at Main Street University 4 Kidz or elsewhere to call the DCS hotline at 1-800-800-5566. Alternatively, parents can contact Brownsburg PD's criminal investigation division by calling (317) 852-1109 and dialing 2123.




This is a developing story. Check back for updates.





via: https://fox59.com/news/docs-brownsburg-daycare-employee-sexually-exploited-children/