An Emporia woman charged earlier this year with abuse, neglect and/or endangerment was in court Monday for a plea hearing.
Kimberly Schneider, a former employee of the Center for Early Childhood Education at Emporia State University appeared with her attorney Charles O’Hara in front of Lyon County Judge Doug Jones. At the hearing, both the defense and the state noted that Schneider had applied for diversion. As a result, the case was continued for a pretrial hearing at 2 p.m. Oct. 19 while the application is processed. The results of the application could potentially be released prior to the pretrial hearing date.
Schneider was charged in May with five counts of child endangerment while former director Keely Persinger was charged with failing to report suspected abuse or neglect after local and state investigations alleged lack of supervision, improper exposure to heat during a summer activity, lack of documentation for staff credentials and lack of records for specific drills in several incidents from 2014 to 2016. Persinger has already entered a diversion agreement in her case.
