Local

9 Investigates: Bond in limbo for day care worker charged in Orange County toddler's hot van death

In August, Deborah St. Charles was arrested in connection with the hot van death of 3-year-old Myles Hill, who was left in the back of a vehicle outside Little Miracles Academy for nearly 12 hours.
St. Charles, 51, is accused of driving the van the day Myles died and not making sure he made it into the day care facility.
She was initially being held at the Orange County Jail in lieu of a $30,000 bond, but two weeks ago a judge lowered the amount to $2,500.
If released, the judge ordered that the Florida Department of Children and Families would have to inspect the home where she would be staying at if there were children living there.
The reason was that a 14-year-old and her own 15-year-old son would also be living in the home and the judge wanted to make sure any minors would be in a safe environment around St. Charles.
At the time, DCF officials said although the request was unusual, they would comply.
Since then, DCF attorneys have filed a motion seeking clarification, arguing that state law “does not allow the Department to take such action without a response to a child abuse report.”
There are no active child abuse reports stemming from the home where St. Charles would be living, so DCF officials were not sure if they could legally inspect the home.
A hearing on the DCF motion is scheduled for Jan. 24.
Jeff Deal

Jeff Deal, WFTV.com

I joined the Eyewitness News team as a reporter in 2006.