Judge doubles bail for jailed Bend day care operator

A northeast Bend day care operator arrested late Friday on assault and criminal mistreatment charges, accused of injuring a 3-month-old girl in her care, made her first court appearance Monday afternoon, and her bail was more than doubled to $500,000 as authorities said it involved two incidents over the past month

As Nicole Rene Johnansen, 41 appeared by video from the Deschutes County Jail, Circuit Judge Roger DeHoog also ordered that she have no contact with minors or be anywhere they congregate, nor in touch with the victim or her family, should she post bail before her next court appearance, set for Feb. 9. However, she told the judge she couldn’t afford to post bail.

According to the Oregon Child Care Office, Johansen had two prior complaints. One back in June 2014 when parents complained she allegedly spanked their children in the day care facility. The Child Care Office told NewsChannel 21 those claims were ‘unsubstantiated’.

The second complaint was in 2009, accusing Johansen of having too many children in her day care. Oregon law allows registered day care operators to have up to ten children in their facility, but only two of those can be under the age of 24 months. In 2009, Johansen had three children under the age of 2.

Police began their child abuse investigation on Friday at the hospital, where the infant was being treated “for internal head injuries that were suspicious,” said Lt. Nick Parker.

Investigators determined the child attended a licensed day care in Bend, owned and operated by Johansen, Parker said.

Johansen was interviewed and her home on Northeast Saranac Place was searched by investigators, the lieutenant said.

Johansen was subsequently arrested on charges of causing the injuries. She was booked into the Deschutes County Jail late Friday on two counts of first-degree assault and one count of first-degree criminal mistreatment. Her initial bail totaled $215,000.

By Monday, when she went to court, the initial charges had been increased to add two more criminal mistreatment charges, for a total of three.

District Attorney John Hummel told NewsChannel 21 Monday the charges involve two alleged incidents involving the same child — one that occurred at some time between Jan. 1 and Jan. 26 and the other on Jan. 27th. He could not divulge details as of yet.

Parker said Saturday the baby was “still recovering” at St. Charles Bend, not divulging further details of her condition.

The state Department of Human Services was contacted and was contacting parents of the other children who were supervised at the day care by Johansen, Parker said. NewsChannel 21 observed several people carrying large boxes out of the home on Sunday.

One of those parents, Christy Davenport, spoke with NewsChannel 21 Saturday after a DHS worker called her about the incident. Davenport said she was “still in shock” about the allegations involving Johansen.

Davenport said her nearly 3-year-old son had been attending the day care for about 18 months and that she’d seen no indications of any serious problems.

“We took him out of a day care we didn’t feel good about, though there was nothing wrong or obvious,” Davenport said, adding that her son “immediately felt comfortable” at Johansen’s home.

“If I’d have sniffed anything wrong, we’d have been out of there.” she said.

Davenport said there had only been some minor issues, such as a bruise on the ear (adding that her child frequently runs into things) and a request that his diaper be changed a bit more often.

“I knew (her son) liked Nicole,” she said. “He was never afraid to go there. I do know she was under a lot more stress. My fianc and I both noticed that.”