Monroe Day-Care Owner Gets 20 Years In Toddler's Death

EVERETT - If everything had gone the way it was supposed to, Charlotte Wetzel would be turning 2 years old early next month.

But instead of birthday presents and gleeful celebration, Jan. 7 will be a day filled with intense sorrow, the child's mother told a Snohomish County judge yesterday.

Charlotte was kicked and stomped to death last summer by her day-care provider.

"I will have to go to (visit) her grave," Margot Wetzel told Superior Court Judge James Allendoerfer. "It will be one of the hardest days of my life. . . . I had so many dreams and hopes for my child. Now they are gone forever."

Wetzel was one of five people to speak yesterday at the sentencing of Robin Johnson, a 33-year-old Monroe woman who acknowledged causing Charlotte's death. Johnson in October pleaded guilty to homicide by abuse, a charge created in 1987 after the death of 3-year-old Eli Creekmore of Everett, who was kicked to death by his father.

The crime carries a standard sentence of 20 to 26-plus years, and Allendoerfer sentenced Johnson to 20 years in prison. In doing so he followed the recommendation of Deputy Prosecutor Jo Vanderlee, who agreed to the low end of the range after Johnson pleaded guilty and spared the Wetzel family a trial.

The judge rejected defense attorney Royce Ferguson's contention that the crime didn't reveal evil intent but rather showed extreme recklessness by a woman who was suffering from depression and other mental problems.

Ferguson urged the judge to give Johnson 10 to 12 years in prison, comparable to a sentence for first-degree manslaughter.

But after reading reports from two psychologists who evaluated Johnson, as well as dozens of letters, Allendoerfer said he was convinced the evidence showed that Johnson - while severely depressed and disturbed - knew that her continuing abuse of children in her care was wrong.

"She was clearly aware that she had a problem" and didn't get help, the judge concluded.

Johnson, who operated a day-care center out of her home beginning in August 1996, said she abused two children in her care before Charlotte. But she acknowledged the abuse was greater with Charlotte, who, for reasons she didn't understand, brought out her anger.

On June 3, the day the child died, Johnson admitted kicking her in the stomach with her heel and stomping on her. In previous incidents, Johnson pulled the girl's hair, backhanded her, pushed her down and kicked her in the ribs, causing her to vomit, Johnson said.

In her plea paperwork, Johnson wrote: "I believe the overwhelming anger and irritation towards the . . . (day-care) children stem from feelings of not having enough time for my own children due to having to meet the day-care children's demanding needs."

Before she was sentenced yesterday, Johnson tearfully expressed remorse:

"I will always, always regret what I've done. Nothing I can say will ever bring her back or make up for what I've done. I know I need to be punished. . . . I stand before you and beg for leniency because I have three children that really need me."

Johnson's husband, Dwight, told the judge that his wife was a "compassionate, caring" person who was greatly stressed and mentally unstable at the time of Charlotte's death. He said his wife needed psychiatric help, not prison.

But Ann Bergstrom, an Edmonds woman who once hired Margot Wetzel as a nanny to care for her own two daughters, urged the judge to impose a minimum of 30 years in prison.

"Right now, (Margot and her husband, Milynn Wetzel) should be thinking about what toys should be under the tree for their little girl. . . . But because of the actions of Robin Johnson, there will be no toys under the Christmas tree at the Wetzels' house. Christmas will be survived, not celebrated," Bergstrom said.

At the end of the hearing, Dwight Johnson approached Margot Wetzel and the two embraced for about two minutes, both weeping.

Anne Koch's phone message number is 425-745-7814. Her e-mail address is: akoch@seattletimes.com

----------------------- Web site on child abuse -----------------------

The Wetzels have established a Web site to raise awareness about child abuse. The address is: www.charlottewetzel.com