A South St. Paul councilwoman will not be charged after investigators say a child who attended her day care ingested meth late last year.

According to police reports, the 3-year-old was dropped off at councilwoman Pam Bakken's day care at 7:10 a.m. on Dec. 6, 2024, before going to a local preschool at 8:25 a.m. The boy returned to the day care at 11:30 a.m., when the staff noticed he was "very talkative, fidgety and had a hard time focusing." After vomiting up his lunch, the boy's mother was asked to pick him up.

During an examination at a local hospital, the boy tested positive for methamphetamine and amphetamines. He allegedly told his mother he ate something he found on a rug in the bathroom of the day care that tasted "gross" and looked like an "onion crumb," according to the Dakota County Attorney's Office.

Bakken's day care license was suspended earlier this year by the Minnesota Department of Human Services following the recommendation by Dakota County Community Services.

However, the Dakota County Attorney's Office says the state can't prove "beyond a reasonable doubt that the child ingested meth while at Ms. Bakken's day care," and if they did, the state is "unable to prove that Ms. Bakken knew it was present in her home and that she intentionally or recklessly allowed the child to be placed in a situation likely to harm the child's health..."

The attorney office adds that the symptoms the child displated would be expected to happen within one to three hours after ingesting meth, according to poison control.

Bakken's day care license is still suspended, but she is appealing that decision.  

An effort to recall Bakken from the city council has now been suspended.