Daycare Owner Attacked With Shovel Protecting Kids
HELENA, Mt. - A Montana daycare owner was punched and hit in the face with a shovel after refusing to hand three young siblings to their father, who was drunk and lacks legal custody, authorities said.
Martha McClure had surgery for her injuries Monday and is still struggling with double vision, according to her sister-in-law, Marlene Heath.
Lake County officials say McClure was caring for Francis Joseph Jackson's three children, all under the age of 4, when he showed up at her Ronan daycare center with an unidentified woman last week.
McClure knew Salish and Kootenai Tribal Child Protective Services had suspended Jackson's parental rights and he was not allowed to have contact with them.
Deputy county attorney James Lapotka wrote in an affidavit that Jackson, 31, "has been in an ongoing CPS case for the past three years" and was served court papers saying the agency had legal custody of his children.
McClure reported she could smell alcohol on Jackson, that he was angry she wouldn't let him pick up his children, and that he threatened to assault her in front of the kids at Martha's Mini Daycare, court records said.
McClure went outside, where she and Jackson fought until a woman hit McClure in the face with a snow shovel. Jackson then hit McClure in the face, knocking her down, court records said. The suspects fled without the children.
Jackson was arrested Monday in Usk, Washington, on the Kalispel Indian Reservation. He faces aggravated burglary charges in the Oct. 7 incident.
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A GoFundMe has been started to help with McClure's medical expenses. For more information click here.