A suburban Chicago daycare teacher has been charged after police said she gave chewable laxatives to toddlers while telling them the medicine was candy, an allegation that sparked alarm among parents who said they spent weeks trying to explain stomach problems in children too young to describe what happened.
St. Charles police said Yizel J. Juarez, 23, of Sycamore, faces six misdemeanor counts tied to three children. The charges include three counts of attempted aggravated battery causing bodily harm to a child under 13 and three counts of endangering a child’s life or health. Investigators say the children were age 2 or younger and were enrolled at The Learning Experience daycare in St. Charles.
Police said the case came to them the morning of Feb. 3, when multiple parents reported that their children had been given a chewable laxative at the daycare, located in the 2400 block of West Main Street. The St. Charles Police Department said it received the calls around 9:43 a.m., and officers went to the center to investigate. Authorities said they confirmed the incidents occurred and identified three juvenile victims. Juarez, who worked as a teacher at the facility, was identified as the suspect employee, police said. After consulting with the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office, investigators sought approval for charges, and Juarez later turned herself in and was processed, police said. She was given a court date and released from custody.
Parents described the allegations as both shocking and deeply personal because the children involved were in a setting meant to be safe and routine. One mother told local media that her 17-month-old had been dealing with diarrhea and other stomach issues for weeks, leading the family to schedule doctor visits and change formula while searching for answers. She said the symptoms did not clear, and tests for common illnesses came back negative. The mother said she learned of the suspected laxative use after the daycare director told her that an employee had been fired over the allegations. The woman said her toddler had been sent home more than once with diarrhea in recent weeks, which disrupted family routines and caused fear about what the child’s body had endured.
In interviews, the parents described a pattern that made the report feel less like an isolated incident and more like something that may have been happening in the background. The mother said her child had been at the center since the summer of 2025, around the same time Juarez was hired, and that the stomach problems seemed to stretch over a long period. The child’s mother said the doctor warned that constipation could follow after coming off laxatives and told her the family does not know what long-term effects might be. The child’s father said the daycare’s illness policy meant that when a child is sick, the child must be sent home and stay home for 24 hours, adding to frustration that the symptoms repeatedly forced pickups and time away from care.
Police and prosecutors have not publicly described how the alleged laxatives were given, how many times it happened, or what prompted the initial suspicions on Feb. 3 beyond multiple parents reporting it at about the same time. A police statement said only that parents alleged their children were given a chewable laxative by one of their daycare teachers. Authorities also did not release the brand or dosage of the laxatives in public statements. The children were described as victims rather than witnesses, a distinction that underscores their age and the challenges investigators face in determining what a toddler understood, what a toddler remembers, and how much the children could communicate to parents or caregivers.
Accounts from parents suggested investigators were told a possible motive in conversations with the daycare. The mother who spoke publicly said the daycare director told her the employee allegedly gave the children the laxatives and referred to them as candy so the toddlers would become sick and could be sent home, because the worker felt overwhelmed. Police have not confirmed that description of motive in their public statement, and prosecutors have not provided a narrative in court filings released publicly. Still, the idea has amplified anger in the community, with parents saying any sense of being overwhelmed should have been handled through staffing changes or a resignation, not by giving medicine to children who did not need it.
The Learning Experience is a national childcare brand with centers across the country, and the St. Charles location is one of many in the region. In the days after the charges were announced, questions centered on what supervision was in place in the classroom, how the alleged conduct was detected, and whether similar complaints were raised earlier. Police said their investigation confirmed the incidents in the Feb. 3 report, but they did not describe whether the confirmation came through interviews, records, recovered medication, or other evidence. CBS News Chicago reported it had reached out to the daycare for comment. Police did not announce any charges against the center or its management.
The legal path forward is expected to move through the Kane County court system, where misdemeanor cases can still carry serious consequences, especially when children are involved. Police said Juarez was given a court date, though officials did not publicly list the day and time in the initial announcement. The charges are allegations, and the police statement included language that Juarez is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. If prosecutors continue with the case, the next steps typically include an initial appearance, setting conditions of release, and later hearings in which the state outlines evidence and the defense can challenge the claims. A plea agreement is possible, but no plea discussions have been described publicly.
For parents, the case has already reshaped day-to-day trust. Families who rely on childcare often do so because work schedules and household needs leave few other options, and they expect staff to follow basic safety rules, from food handling to medication restrictions. The allegation that a teacher could give a medicine and call it candy has fueled fear about how easily a child can be influenced by an adult in a classroom. Some parents said the stress was compounded by the uncertainty before the allegation surfaced, when children were sick without a clear cause and families tried one explanation after another. Even now, parents said, they are left with lingering questions about when the alleged laxatives were given and whether their child was among those affected.
Police said they want anyone with information about the incident to contact the St. Charles Police Department’s Investigations Division at 630-377-4435. As of Monday, the case stood at the charging stage, with Juarez released after turning herself in and awaiting a first court appearance. Officials have not announced additional victims, but investigators have signaled they are still gathering information.
Author note: Last updated Feb. 9, 2026.