Young Tracks Preschool and Day Care Center’s license to operate was suspended on Tuesday due to alleged child abuse and the director failing to report the abuse and interfering with parent reports, according to the Colorado Department of Early Childhood’s order of suspension.

Parents were asked to pick up their children from the Steamboat Springs daycare facility early on Tuesday after the state’s Department of Early Childhood ordered it closed.

The order came following the arrest of one of the teachers, Alma Amparan Montes, 26, after Steamboat Springs police investigated reports of abuse from the Routt County Department of Human Services. According to the arrest affidavit, Montes is criminally charged with three counts of child abuse.

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According to the affidavit, several witnesses, including two teachers, reported to the Routt County Department of Human Services that Montes “grabs (the children) by their arms and legs, shakes them and lays them down roughly causing them to hit their heads on the wall.”

Witnesses also stated seeing Montes using “her long fingernails to press on the children’s windpipe,” and “lay on the children to make them fall asleep,” according to the affidavit.

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Steamboat Springs-based Attorney Stacy Marczak-Grande is representing Montes in the court proceedings.

“We are reviewing the evidence and are prepared to vigorously defend Ms. Montes against these allegations. We want to emphasize that Ms. Montes maintains her innocence and is fully cooperating with the legal process. We urge the public to refrain from rushing to judgment and allow the justice system to take its course,” said Marczak-Grande in a statement.

According to the suspension order issued by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, the childcare center has operated under a permanent license since Feb. 7, 2000. The most recent license continuation notice was received on Jan. 22, 2025.

The suspension order also states that the Department of Early Childhood “became aware” of faculty allegedly “hitting, pinching and scratching children,” as well as “shaking children and violently laying them down hard enough that the children hie their heads on the wall” on Thursday.

The department then “became aware” of a staff member in the infant classroom “picking up babies by their legs” on Friday, according to the suspension order.

The suspension order further states that Steamboat Springs Police Chief Mark Beckett told the department that he “believes that the children at the facility are in imminent danger of child abuse” on Sunday.

The suspension order then adds that “staff and/or the director of the facility were aware of child abuse allegations and failed to report them to the county and/or law enforcement” and “child abuse in the facility has been happening for approximately one to two years.”

According to the suspension order, the director of Young Tracks, Kim Martin, has allegedly “known about the abuse and has interfered with parents contacting the department or law enforcement and parents were afraid to come forward.”

In Colorado, failing to report an incident of child abuse as a mandatory reporter is a Class 2 misdemeanor punishable by six months of prison and/or a $750 fine, according to a Colorado Department of Human Services organization, CO4Kids.

The suspension order also notes that Young Tracks has had “consistent” licensing violations, including “leaving dangerous items accessible to children.”

According to Carolyn Romero, the Communications Director at the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, “The department is aware of the investigation and is in regular communication with both law enforcement and the county… The department cannot comment or release any information on the ongoing investigation.”

A Young Tracks board member stated Wednesday that the board will be cooperative with authorities as the investigation continues.

Steamboat Pilot & Today staff made several attempts to call Martin at the Young Tracks office but did not receive a response before the deadline for this newspaper.

According to the suspension order, Young Tracks cared for 78 children from ages 2 months to 7 years old.

The Routt County Department of Human Services stated in a news release that it is “currently in conversation with Colorado State licensing and local partners about possible solutions to help those who find themselves without childcare options due to the current closure.”

In an email to the Steamboat Pilot & Today, Beckett also stated that local childcare facilities can ask the Department of Early Childhood for “emergency permission to increase the ratio of children to provider”

Anyone looking for information on resources for daycare can visit FirstImpressionsRouttCounty.org or contact Pamela Nebel, the First Impressions of Routt County Program Specialist, at 970-875-4227.

To find local childcare center openings, visit Bit.Ly/42RvOOE. 

To find a list of local babysitters and nannies in the area, visit Bit.Ly/3QkBc5e. 

To make a confidential report of suspected child abuse or neglect, call the Colorado Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 1-844-CO-4-KIDS (1-844-264-5437).