Inset: Katelyn Strohacker (Licking County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The Over the Rainbow Children Center in Pataskala, Ohio, where Katelyn Strohacker allegedly used painter’s tape to bind a 1-year-old child (Google Maps).
An Ohio daycare worker has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to the mistreatment of young children, including a particularly disturbing incident involving a 1-year-old girl. Katelyn Strohacker, 23, confessed to wrapping “painter’s tape” around the eyes, feet, and hands of the toddler, as well as subjecting other children to abuse that led to “sleep issues” and “night terrors.”
On Friday, Strohacker received a sentence of eight to 12 years behind bars following her no-contest plea to 31 counts of kidnapping and child endangerment at Over the Rainbow Children’s Center in Pataskala, according to court documents.
Prosecutors revealed that Strohacker had abused at least eight children. In one shocking case, she used painter’s tape to restrain a 1-year-old girl as a means of “administering corporal punishment” in a “cruel manner.” Strohacker admitted to binding the young girl on multiple occasions.
“Only a soulless monster would be capable of abusing defenseless children,” expressed Taylor Pineda, a parent, during the sentencing, as reported by local CBS affiliate WBNS. Pineda directly addressed Strohacker, highlighting the trust she violated as a daycare employee.
Ryan Freehafer, another parent, shared his distress: “My daughter, who had always been joyful and happy, began telling us she was a bad girl, and she would shut down in tears after any correction. My daughter was conditioned by a predatory monster who I dropped her off to each day and will now spend the rest of her childhood trying to rebuild from.”
During the court proceedings, Strohacker chose not to speak. Though she faced a potential maximum sentence of over 92 years, the court settled on a term of eight to 12 years.
Prosecutors said the abuse was discovered after the mother of the girl who had her eyes taped shut contacted police in August 2025 and said she had been contacted by the director of the daycare facility, Jamie Schoelkopf, about the alleged incident.
“The defendant placed painter’s tape on [the child’s] eyes, taped [the child’s] hands behind her back, and taped [the child’s] feet together, leaving [the child] face down under a blanket unattended,” prosecutors alleged in a bill of particulars detailing allegations against Strohacker. “Detectives continued to investigate the defendant’s behavior by reviewing voluminous amounts of video from her prior shifts dating back to a surveillance retention date of July 7, 2025, and video up to August 7, 2025. Law enforcement discovered that the Defendant had done this on at least four prior occasions to [the child], including one incident on July 17, 2025, in which she taped [the child’s] hands behind her head and stepped her foot on [the child’s] shoulder and neck area.”
Strohacker “terrorized” the 1-year-old girl while she was restrained “by acting aggressively and forcefully with the child when she would move her feet,” the filing said. “This included yanking the toddler around or acting in a threatening manner,” according to prosecutors.
Strohacker targeted seven other children in the monthlong time frame during which surveillance video was kept. One incident that involved a 2-year-old and was captured on video from July 11, 2025, showed Strohacker “purposely shut the victim’s finger in a cabinet door,” according to prosecutors. Four of Strohacker’s victims were seen, evaluated, and treated by multidisciplinary teams at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
“These children, who suffered serious physical harm as a result of the defendant’s abuse, have experienced sleep issues/night terrors, separation anxiety, and behavioral issues,” prosecutors said in a court filing.
A parent who spoke at Strohacker’s sentencing on Friday said, “For our daughter, she’s been trapped in a cycle of sleep aggression and night terrors at 2 years old,” according to local ABC affiliate WSYX.
Another parent recounted how Strohacker “moved my daughter to a spot out of camera view for nap time, where my baby was screaming for me, her daddy, and her dogs—following what sounded like a strike of some sort,” WSYX reports.
“Personally, we hope that … you’re never allowed to be alone with children ever again,” said one mother. “May God have mercy on your soul, but I can’t — because we pray he doesn’t.”
The Over the Rainbow Children’s Center has not responded to Law&Crime’s requests for comment. It provided a statement to WBNS last year, saying safety was the “top priority,” per the outlet.
“We became aware of an incident with a former employee,” the daycare said. “As a result of the incident, both the employee and supervisor have been terminated. We have been in contact with the family of the child involved and reported the incident to authorities.”
