Woman’s ‘therapeutic place’ for children included beatings, starvation, and being forced to survive on ‘pond water and wild onions’: Sheriff

Inset: Kimberly Ann Haley (Tulsa County Jail). Background: Deputies serving a search warrant at Haley’s home (KOTV).

A 60-year-old woman in Oklahoma has been arrested and accused of physically and emotionally abusing multiple young children in her care over more than 10 years.

Kimberly Ann Haley was taken into custody on Monday and charged with four felony counts of child abuse by injury, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. The investigation into Haley began when five children in June 2023 spoke to an employee with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services about their experience with Haley, which included forced labor, starvation, and at least one allegation of an attempted drowning, Tulsa CBS affiliate KOTV reported.

A probable cause affidavit obtained by the station stated that Haley claimed to provide a “therapeutic place for children with RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder).” RAD is a condition where young children do not establish healthy relationships with parents or caregivers, largely as a result of neglect and mistreatment. She reportedly sought out parents looking for assistance with their children through Facebook searches as well as a mental health professional who worked in the area.

However, authorities say that Haley had no license or training in dealing with children with RAD and that her methods of dealing with the children in her care were nothing short of child abuse.

“They were brought to her for her to care for them. People paid her to take care of them while they were staying with her,” Det. Paul Holland with the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office told the station. “They had to sleep on the floor, naked with no blankets as punishment, they weren’t allowed to have food. Food was locked up in the refrigerator with a padlock on it. Cabinets were the same way.”

According to a report from Tulsa Fox affiliate KOKI, one child told authorities that Haley would not permit her to eat unless she completed chores around the house, noting that the refrigerator was locked and equipped with an alarm. That child also reportedly said that Haley would often prohibit her from bathing and using the bathroom at night.

Another child reportedly claimed that Haley threw her into a bathtub, causing the child to suffer a head injury. A panicked Haley then allegedly attempted to drown the victim in the bathtub before another individual intervened and stopped Haley.

Other children claimed Haley forced them to “live outside in the woods” where they survived on “pond water and wild onions.”

“Kimberly [Haley] would throw food outside, but the animals would get to it first,” the affidavit stated. “Kimberly beat them and starved them as punishment.”

Other allegations included children being forced to “clean the sewer with their bare hands” and use buckets instead of a bathroom. Holland said there was only one working bathroom in the home and the children were forced “to act like plumbers and clear all that sewage out.”

Additionally, one child claimed that she washed the dishes incorrectly and Haley stabbed her in the knee, KOTV reported.

Authorities said that Haley has not had any children in her home for the last year. She is currently being held in the Tulsa County Jail on $25,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

Woman’s ‘therapeutic place’ for children included beatings, starvation, and being forced to survive on ‘pond water and wild onions’: Sheriff

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