An Emmetsburg daycare provider has pleaded guilty to child endangerment resulting in death nearly four years after a 23-month-old boy died while in her care. Hannah Priest entered the plea according to court documents filed Tuesday, closing out a case that began with a 2023 hospitalization and ended with an autopsy finding of inflicted brain trauma.
Priest, identified in the guilty-plea report as 31 years old, had previously pleaded not guilty to the charge in September 2023, according to KTIV. Earlier charging documents cited by 3 News Now had identified her as 28 at the time she was charged; the discrepancy in her reported age between the two stages of the case has not been resolved. Priest now has a sentencing hearing scheduled for Nov. 9 at 1:30 p.m. in Emmetsburg, per the same Yahoo News account.
What Happened to the Toddler
The case stems from the death of a 23-month-old child, Sebastian Jespersen, who was in Priest's care at the time. In January 2023, officials responded to an unresponsive child, the report notes, with the boy found unresponsive on his sleeping cot before being transported to a hospital in Des Moines. He was declared dead Jan. 24, according to KCCI.
An autopsy determined the cause of death to be brain trauma consistent with inflicted trauma, the station's report states. Priest was providing a daycare service at the time of the incident, and she told investigators the boy had been acting normally before his nap.
From Denial to Admission
Priest initially denied having inflicted any injuries on the child, accidental or otherwise, according to the Yahoo News account. She later told investigators she had become frustrated with the child during naptime and set him in the cot by his shoulders, the same report states. As covered previously by KTIV, Priest was arrested in September 2023 following an investigation into the boy's death, and authorities had interviewed her several times about what happened.
The case's path to a guilty plea was not swift. A previously scheduled trial was delayed after the defense said its forensic examiner had not been given sufficient evidence, per KCCI's earlier reporting on the matter.
Legal Exposure Under Iowa Law
Child endangerment resulting in the death of a child or minor is classified as a class B felony under Iowa Code section 726.6, according to the Iowa Legislature. The statute underpins the charge Priest pleaded guilty to, though the terms of any plea arrangement and the eventual sentence remain unknown ahead of next month's hearing.
Cases involving daycare providers and the deaths of children in their care have surfaced elsewhere in Iowa in recent years. A former Iowa daycare provider pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in a baby's death, according to Channel3000. Separately, a former Orange City in-home daycare provider serving a 50-year sentence tied to a 2013 death was released on parole, as reported by the Nwest Iowa Review.
For now, the Emmetsburg case moves toward its Nov. 9 sentencing hearing at the Palo Alto County Courthouse, where the consequences of Priest's guilty plea will be determined.
