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Rostraver day care owner accused of forging clearances

2 min read

The owner of a Rostraver Township day care center faces numerous charges for allegedly forging clearances for her employees.

Diane Mesiarik, 52, of 158 N. Fourth St., West Newton, was charged with forgery, tampering with records and tampering with public records by the attorney general’s office. She was arraigned on the charges Thursday before District Judge Charles Christner and released on a $25,000 unsecured bond.

Mesiarik is the owner of Bright Start Learning Care Center, 1737 Rostraver Road.

According to the criminal complaint, Paula Piasecky, a representative with the Office of Child Development and Early Learning, discovered discrepancies in the day care’s records when conducting a renewal inspection in May 2018. She checked with the office of Children, Youth and Families and learned that employees, Mesiarik included, had not completed mandated reporter training on the dates reflected on the certificates, the complaint says.

One employee whose certification indicated she had completed training in September 2016 told Piasecky she was off work at the time and did not do the training.

The certificate for another employee’s child abuse history clearance was dated April 19, 2016, but Piasecky knew the form had not been used since 2015. According to the complaint, it appeared that someone had covered the original date with whiteout. The employee was able to provide a legitimate clearance to investigators.

Other discrepancies involved employee clearances for Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse.

The attorney general’s office executed a search warrant at the day care on April 4 and seized additional questionable documents, according to the complaint.

Mesiarik’s attorney, James Welsh of Murrysville, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

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