A 60-year-old daycare worker from West St. Paul has been charged with malicious punishment of a child after a young girl at a South St. Paul daycare facility was left with visible bruising on her ear sometime between January 28 and January 30. Karen Denise Dudley faces a gross-misdemeanor charge following a police investigation that began after the girl's mother noticed bruising on her daughter's right ear and reported it as suspected child abuse.
According to MinneapoliMedia, prosecutors allege Dudley pulled the young girl's ear hard enough to leave visible bruising, and investigators interviewed people connected to the daycare as part of their review of the allegation. Child abuse pediatricians at the Midwest Children's Resource Center examined the girl on February 3 and found two small red-purple bruises on the top helix of her right ear, a finding the specialists classified as highly concerning for child physical abuse and highly specific for inflicted injury, according to FOX 9.
Forensic Interview Clarifies Child's Account
The girl had reportedly told her mother that Dudley pulled her hair, saying, “Mr. Karen pulled my hair.” During a forensic interview on February 5, the same report notes, the child clarified her account, stating instead, “Ms. Karen pulled my ear.” Forensic interviews of this kind are standard procedure in Minnesota child abuse investigations involving young witnesses.
The daycare facility's director gave police surveillance video footage and told investigators that Dudley had previously received other complaints from staff or parents about rough handling of children, the outlet reports. Police began investigating the suspected child abuse report on February 2, and when officers interviewed Dudley at her residence on February 23, she made several spontaneous denials, telling an officer, “I didn't do anything,” “nothing happened to the child,” and “she was fine when I left.”
What the Charge Carries Under Minnesota Law
Prosecutors filed the gross-misdemeanor charge after the investigation concluded. Under Minnesota Statute § 609.377, Subd. 2, malicious punishment of a child resulting in less than substantial bodily harm is classified as a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to 364 days in jail, a fine of up to $3,000, or both, according to the Minnesota Revisor's Office. The same statute's Subd. 4 elevates the offense to a felony carrying up to five years in prison if the victim is under four years old and suffers bodily harm to the head, eyes, neck, or multiple body bruises — a threshold that did not apply in this case because the girl's injury was categorized as less than substantial bodily harm.
Dudley is presumed innocent unless proven guilty, and the criminal charge remains an accusation that does not constitute proof of guilt. Separate from the criminal case, Minnesota Statutes Chapter 245C allow the state Department of Human Services to disqualify individuals from direct-contact child care positions based on a preponderance of evidence of maltreatment, regardless of whether criminal charges lead to a conviction, according to Brandt Kettwick Defense. That administrative standard is lower than the criminal burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Local Oversight and a Pattern Across the Metro
Dakota County Social Services oversees local child protection inquiries into physical abuse and neglect reported within licensed child care homes and centers in South St. Paul, working alongside local police departments on child safety reports, per Dakota County. Statewide, licensed child care centers recorded 81 substantiated instances of child maltreatment in 2025, down from 93 in 2024 but up from 51 in 2022, according to Parent Aware data.
The case follows other recent daycare and school discipline charges across the Twin Cities metro. In July, Ramsey County prosecutors charged another Twin Cities daycare worker with gross-misdemeanor malicious punishment of a child after video allegedly showed him striking a 4-year-old in the face at a St. Paul daycare. That case, along with a similar one involving a Brown County teacher accused of kneeing a 6-year-old, has kept scrutiny on how Minnesota child care facilities and schools respond to complaints about physical discipline.
