Pacifica woman sentenced to one year in jail for abusing children at daycare center

The defendant was accused of putting her hand around a child’s throat and leaving a 1-year-old alone on a changing table.

PACIFICA — A 21-year-old Pacifica woman has been sentenced to one year in San Mateo County jail and four years of supervised probation for abusing children at a daycare center, prosecutors said.

Mikala Alexis Ghirarduzzi pleaded no contest to one felony count of child cruelty in October. Ghirarduzzi received her sentence Thursday and was remanded into custody to begin serving her jail term, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. She has one day credit for time served.

Ghirarduzzi was initially charged with three felony counts of child endangerment and two misdemeanor counts of child endangerment.

The Pacifica Police Department launched an investigation in July 2021 after receiving a tip that Ghirarduzzi had been “acting cruelly and potentially harming children” in her care at Terra Nova Christian Preschool in Pacifica, prosecutors said.

Police found numerous videos and photographs that showed Ghirarduzzi doing things such as passing gas in the face of a sleeping child, pinching children and putting her hand around the throat of a child, according to the district attorney’s office.

Ghirarduzzi was also seen leaving a 1-year-old boy alone on a changing table, prosecutors said.

In addition to the jail and probation terms, Ghirarduzzi was ordered to complete a one-year child abuser treatment program, enter and complete outpatient behavioral health treatment as directed by her probation officer, and abstain from alcohol and drugs.

Judge Elizabeth Hill also ordered Ghirarduzzi to have no contact with any children.

A restitution hearing has been scheduled for July 21.