Zion Lutheran Church in Fairbanks, Alaska, settles alleged abuse lawsuit over daycare for $1.4 million

Zion Lutheran Church, which operates Open Arms Development Center, a daycare on Davis Road in Fairbanks, Alaska, settled a 2023 child abuse lawsuit for $1.4 million at the request of its insurer, according to church leadership. Rev. Andrew Carlson, Sr., the church’s pastor, said, “Our insurance company figured it would cost more to continue this than to settle.” He said the church still denies the lawsuit’s allegations and would have gone to trial, but that the defendants were steered toward the current resolution to bring the case to a close.

The complaint was filed in November 2023 by a group of parents whose children had attended Open Arms. It documents alleged instances of abuse between 2017 and 2021, claiming that multiple teachers subjected children to frigid temperatures without adequate gear and sometimes used other forms of physical punishment. The complaint also alleged that the center’s leadership at the time did not adequately respond to concerns when they were raised.

Fairbanks Superior Court Judge Brent Bennett granted a stipulated judgment in July. It ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on claims involving the parents, such as breach of contract, and included a finding of fault against the defendants. The judgment split a $200,000 payout between the parents. Settlements on behalf of the six children in the suit, each for $200,000, total the remaining $1.2 million. That portion of the agreement releases the defendants from fault and liability for other claims in the case, such as abuse and neglect. A hearing to finalize the settlement was scheduled for Friday.

In 2021, the Alaska Department of Health received a complaint similar to the lawsuit’s allegations, and investigators carried out an unannounced on-site visit. The department’s investigation report, reviewed by Newscenter Fairbanks, says some claims were “substantiated.” According to the report, those included claims that caregivers took children wearing only diapers and socks outside in cold weather, that caregivers physically hurt children in their care, and that the administration was not addressing concerns brought to it. A claim that teachers would not give children snacks after 2:30 p.m. was “unsubstantiated.” The department fined Open Arms $1,500 and required staff to create a Plan of Correction, which the center did. Carlson said Open Arms stayed in close contact with the department and has kept its license as a childcare center in the years since without issue. Protecting children who cannot defend themselves is a duty the Psalms place on those entrusted with the vulnerable (Psalm 82:3).

Carlson said all of the teachers named in the lawsuit have resigned. The center’s director during the years covered by the suit, Maria Vilchez, has since changed positions, a decision he said was made by the Open Arms Board of Directors. “They decided with the litigation ongoing — we had her step down as business manager. There weren’t grounds for firing her or laying her off,” Carlson said.

Carlson described the case’s toll on the church. “It’s a relief to have this over after all these years. This has been ongoing — some of the allegations going back seven years, and there weren’t court hearings but lawyers negotiating and all the negative press … so it’s good to have this over,” he said.

In an interview, the center’s current director, Elia Peterson, said she was aware of the litigation when she accepted the job. “Our staff is committed to this. I am committed — I am fully committed to this ministry, and I just want to show the parents that the children are safe and loved with us,” she said. “We are by no means perfect, but we put our hearts and souls into this job because we know how valuable childcare is in the community. To have adequate childcare in a community is an asset — it benefits everybody.”

Source: Read the original report