Livsey, January Irene.jpg

January Neatherlin of Bend, in her booking photo from the Deschutes County Adult Jail under which she was admitted as January Livsey.

(Deschutes County Sheriff's Office)

A Bend child care provider accused of routinely leaving other people's infants and toddlers unattended at her home while she went to a gym and tanning salon forced the kids to take medicine to induce sleep before she left, according to a prosecutor.

Authorities suspect January Neatherlin has been drugging children, leaving them alone while at her day care, Little Giggles, illegally since 2014, according to a memo written by Kandy Gies, Deschutes County deputy district attorney.

The state suspended Neatherlin's day care license in January 2014, Gies said, and it hasn't been reinstated despite at least one request from Neatherlin to have the suspension lifted. A day care license is needed in Oregon if a provider is looking after more than three children.

A Deschutes County judge Friday denied a motion to decrease Neatherlin's bail from $500,000. Defense attorney Matthew Baughman was seeking a bail amount of $60,000, claiming his client would be willing to undergo GPS monitoring and other sanctions if released, court records show.

Neatherlin, 31, was arrested March 15 after Bend police officers entered her home while she was away and found seven kids from 6 months to 4 years old inside alone. Other officers followed her to a Tan Republic and found her there.

Records from the tanning salon and a Crossfit gym show she left home on most weekdays about noon for workouts and tanning appointments, the memo said.

The arrest came after police had been surveilling her home on March 3 and 15 while investigating anonymous complaints, the memo said. Investigators watched the babysitter leave the house by herself after parents dropped off their children.

"In a matter of just 13 days, (Neatherlin) left multiple children alone at her residence, on several different dates, while she went about her life, working out and tanning," Gies wrote.

Neatherlin faces 78 counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment and another 38 counts of reckless endangering.

The police officers entered the home out of concern for the kids' safety, police said.

The children were found sleeping and lethargic in an upstairs bedroom when the officers arrived, according to the memo. One of the kids later told investigators that Neatherlin gave them medicine and would force them to take it if they didn't want to. It's not clear what that medicine is.

Since Neatherlin's arrest, other parents and children have come forward and confirmed that she had been drugging children and leaving them alone in the past, Gies wrote.

Secretary of State records show Neatherlin took out a business license for Little Giggles in 2010, but it hadn't been renewed as of March 2012.

Neatherlin received an Oregon license as a daycare provider in July 2013, the memo said, and it was suspended six months later. The state has been receiving complaints since 2014 that Little Giggles has been operating illegally, but authorities hadn't been able to fully investigate the claims because Neatherlin "refused to cooperate," the memo said.

Neatherlin's criminal history shows a history of "stealing and scamming others for her own personal benefit," according to Gies. Court records show convictions in three cases between 2007 and 2010 for first- and second-degree theft and identity theft. In these cases, she is identified as January Brooks or January Livsey.

"The charges currently pending before the court show the defendant's complete lack of empathy for others, lack of responsibility for the children she's contracted to care for, and they show her threat to the community," Gies said.

Neatherlin is next scheduled to appear in court April 13 for a plea hearing.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey