Probation for unlicensed Cottage Grove care provider allegedly drunk with 12 kids in home

A Cottage Grove woman was put on a year's probation after being charged with being drunk while providing day care to 12 small children in her home.

Megan K. Martin, 25, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Washington County District Court to operating a home day care without a license, a misdemeanor. In exchange, a gross-misdemeanor count of child neglect was dismissed.

Judge Laura Pietan accepted the plea agreement, set aside a 90-day jail sentence and ordered that Martin not provide day-care services for the year she is on probation.

On Feb. 25, police searched Martin's home in the 8100 block of S. Granada Avenue and found three of the 12 children in her care strapped in their car seats with blankets draped over them, according to County Attorney Pete Orput.

The search turned up 17 violations that Martin could have been cited for had she been a licensed provider, Orput added.

Police gave her a preliminary breath test, which found her blood alcohol content to be 0.12%, Orput said. The legal limit for driving in Minnesota is 0.08%.

Martin admitted offering day-care services for about five years and actively avoided obtaining a license, the county attorney added.