A McKees Rocks woman accused of abusing five young children at the McCandless preschool she ran will serve two years of probation.

Melissa Marie Populo, 38, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court to one misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of children.

Populo worked as the headmaster of the Gloworms Academy on Harmony Drive.

According to a criminal complaintan employee at the daycare contacted McCandless police on April 15 to report suspected child abuse.

The employee told police she was watching classroom videos a few days earlier and saw Populo punch a 14-month-old child in the face for not eating.

Reviewing additional video, police said Populo was seen approaching a 1-year-old child in a high chair and slapping him in the face.

It also showed Populo picking up another 1-year-old child by her left ankle and carrying her upside down, causing the child to cry.

In another case, Populo shoved a pacifier into a child’s mouth so hard it made him bleed.

“The video compilation is striking in the number of distinct events, the cruelty of (Populo’s) actions, and the lack of empathy shown by (Populo) to young children,” police wrote in the complaint. “It is even more striking that these events took place on video.”

During Wednesday’s hearing, Assistant District Attorney Deanne Paul read a victim impact statement from the parents of one of the victims, who was less than 2 years old at the time.

These parents, the statement said, watched the video of what happened to their son six months ago.

“He is still so alive,” they wrote.

They said Populo aggressively tackled their son, “basically dragging him across the floor,” then grabbed his face and yelled directly at her.

“It was an abuse of power,” the parents wrote.

Their son could not tell them what happened.

“This is not a child of the age or vocabulary that could articulate what is happening to him,” they wrote.

The parents noticed when they dropped their son off at kindergarten that he got upset, cried and refused to enter.

“It was extremely heartbreaking and heartbreaking,” they wrote.

Even after switching to a new day care, they said, it took four months before they had a calm withdrawal.

Now, they continued, they just want to make sure Populo can’t work in childcare again.

Defense lawyer Steve Tehovnik told the court his client now works as a delivery driver.

“She took responsibility for her actions,” Tehovnik said, noting that Populo cried during her victim impact statement. “She’s very affected by it.”

When asked by the court if he would like to speak, Populo said: “I’m just sorry.”

Originally charged with five felonies, Populo pleaded to a single reduced count. The other four charges were dropped.

“The single count is meant globally to include all victims,” ​​Paul said. “We just consolidated to one number.”

As part of Populo’s probation, Common Pleas Judge Thomas E. Flaherty ordered a behavioral health evaluation.