A Dacula day care reopened for business Monday, three days after a former employee was arrested and charged with child molestation.
James Michael Morriss, 19, was arrested Friday and, according to Gwinnett County jail records, charged with child molestation, sexual assault and enticing a child for indecent purposes. Warrants allege that Morriss was working at the Meliora School for Early Learning in Dacula when he took a female student to “a secluded bathroom in a classroom … for the purpose of child molestation or indecent acts.”
The alleged abuse occurred between March 1 and April 1, according to warrants. It was unclear if multiple incidents were involved.
The girl’s age was not provided, but warrants said she was under 16 years old. According to the school’s website, it offers infant, toddler and pre-K programs, as well as an after-school program aimed at 6 to 12 year olds.
The Meliora School, which also has locations in Lawrenceville and southeast Atlanta, was closed in April after the state's Department of Early Care and Learning issued an emergency closure order. At the time, officials said children at the school were in "imminent danger."
DECAL spokesman Reg Griffin told Channel 2 Action News that his organization entered into a consent agreement with Meliora on Friday, rescinding the emergency closure order and allowing the school to reopen.
A person who answered the phone at the school Monday afternoon confirmed that it had reopened.
It was unclear how long Morriss, who is being held without bond, had worked at Meliora. His jail booking sheet listed his employer as a landscaping company.
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