Police: Day-care lady pinned kids to beds

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn., Nov. 10 (UPI) -- A suburban Minneapolis day-care provider safety-pinned children to mattresses and used pajamas as straitjackets, authorities say.

Charges filed in Hennepin County District Court allege Arvilla Meinhardt, 70, of Golden Valley, Minn., admitted to authorities she had been using such tactics on 2- and 3-year-olds who attended her in-home day care for about eight years, the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune reported Tuesday.

The newspaper said Meinhardt has been charged with gross misdemeanor malicious punishment of a child and false imprisonment.

Golden Valley Police Chief Stacy Altonen told reporters that while Meinhardt, her husband and her daughter were all arrested Friday, only Meinhardt currently is facing charges, adding there are "potential" charges for the others.

Altonen told the Star Tribune police were made aware of the situation when a 7-year-old girl told her mother Meinhardt had used safety pins to fasten her arms to a mattress during nap time while she had been under her care several years earlier.