Sex offender at day care raises alarms

The mother of a 3-year-old girl filed a report with the Panhandle Health District July 12 alleging that a registered sex offender visited his wife’s Coeur d’Alene day-care center and offered the girl a lollipop if she would let him look at her.

Stephen Christopher Krous, 31, failed a polygraph exam when questioned about the incident July 15, according to a report from his probation officer, Bob Anderson. Later that day, Krous was booked into Kootenai County Jail on charges that he violated terms of his probation. He was released Wednesday on $25,000 bail.

Coeur d’Alene police are investigating the mother’s allegations against Krous.

Krous’ wife, Misty Krous, owns the Happy Days Child Care center through a limited liability corporation. Stephen Krous was ordered not to go near the day-care center as a condition of his probation.

Stephen Krous said Thursday that he did not want to comment on the mother’s allegations or on whether he had visited his wife’s day-care center.

In 2001, the state revoked Misty Krous’ license and shut down her Post Falls in-home day care, Loving Hands, after Stephen Krous was convicted of fondling an 11-year-old staying overnight at their home.

The city of Coeur d’Alene and Panhandle Health said last week that they were aware of Misty Krous’ history and the fact that her husband was a sex offender, but legally had to issue her a license for Happy Days because she had formed a limited liability corporation in her own name.

Coeur d’Alene Deputy City Clerk Kathy Lewis said the city will decide whether to revoke Happy Days’ license once the Police Department’s investigation is complete.

According to the complaint filed with Panhandle Health earlier this month, the mother said she was at home when her 3-year-old daughter said, “I will give you a lollipop if I can look at you.” She said she asked her daughter where she had heard that and the girl replied “from the man teacher” who had taken her to the bathroom at Happy Days day care.

The mother said she had known about Stephen Krous and “became very worried.”

On the day she filed the complaint, the mother said, she had gone to the day care to pick up her daughter and saw Stephen Krous parked in his van near the mailbox outside the day care. She said her daughter told her, “That’s my teacher. That’s the man who took me to the potty.”

In the polygraph exam, Krous denied he had offered the girl a lollipop if she would let him look at her, but the polygraph examiner found Krous was being deceptive, according to the probation report. The polygraph examiner said Krous was also being deceptive when he denied visiting the day-care center any time in the past six months.

Krous told the examiner that he believed it was one of his wife’s ex-employees who had made the complaint, according to the report. “Why they did it, I have no idea,” Krous was quoted as saying. “It’s just the type of person they are.”

Krous told the examiner that the closest he had ever gotten to the day care was the mailbox on the street, where he would leave items for his wife.

According to the report from Anderson, Krous contacted the mother of the 3-year-old after she filed the complaint. Anderson said he contacted Krous and told him not to have contact with parents of any children who were attending or had attended the day care.

“You can’t expect me to do that,” Krous is quoted as saying. “Some of the parents are my friends.”

Anderson wrote in the report that he arrested Krous and then contacted Misty Krous to let her know her husband had been arrested. Anderson said Misty Krous responded by calling the probation officer a profane name.

In his report to the judge, Anderson said it appeared the Krouses had “attempted to keep his status of a registered sex offender hidden from employees and parents who were trusting the day care with the care of children.”

Anderson said he believed Stephen Krous had socialized with employees at Happy Days and “never disclosed his criminal status.”

One mother said she pulled her two children out of the day care after she received a call from an employee last week warning her that accusations had been made against the owner’s husband. The mother, who asked that her name be withheld, said the employee told her the allegations against Stephen Krous “had nothing to do with the day care, but the day care may be mentioned because he was her husband.”

Until the phone call, the mother said she didn’t know Misty Krous was married to a registered sex offender.

“People are paying those people good money to take care of their children and they’re failing miserably by letting him come around,” the parent said. “I can’t see how she actually expects people to trust her with their children if she’s already with a man who’s been convicted of lewd conduct with a child.”