The Cleveland, Tennessee, day care worker who was charged Feb. 10 with 27 counts of child neglect and then had those charges dismissed by a judge in March is now facing a grand jury indictment alleging 28 new counts related to the same blaze at Little Lambs Child Care that landed him jail the first time.
James Roger Carpenter Jr., 53, was charged the day of the fire with 27 counts of child neglect after emergency officials who were removing the 27 children there during the fire noticed open beer containers in a room, authorities said in February.
Officers questioned Carpenter, who allegedly admitted to drinking multiple alcoholic beverages while working at the center that day, according to a news release on his initial arrest. No one was injured in the fire.
Bradley County General Sessions Judge Sheridan Randolph, however, dismissed Carpenter’s charges March 8. Randolph ruled Carpenter couldn’t be charged with being in legal custody of the children, officials said.
In response to the dismissal, District Attorney General Stephen Crump said in a March news release he disagreed with Randolph’s ruling and promised to present the case to the Bradley County grand jury.