Day-care employee accused of sex abuse

Jen Lawson

Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004 | 11:14 a.m.

A former employee of the Creative Beginnings day-care center is being held in Clark County Detention Center on charges of molesting as many as four boys and videotaping or photographing the encounters, according to a Metro Police report.

Kimya Olumi Winbush, 29, was arrested Saturday on 11 counts each of sexual assault of a victim under 14 and lewdness with a minor and two counts of producing child pornography.

Two of the alleged victims are boys who live in Winbush's former neighborhood and two others are believed to attend Creative Beginnings, according to the police report.

Sgt. Russ Shoemaker of Metro's sexual assault unit said detectives are looking for other children who might have been victimized.

"It's not at all unusual for someone to do something like this at one location and have done the same thing to other children at a different venue," he said.

According to the police report, a man looking through trash cans on Friday found some videotapes of a bald man wearing gold jewelry having sex with two boys who appeared to be 7 or 8 years old.

The man also found pornography in the trash with a mailing label showing Winbush's name and address. Police ran a check of the name and discovered he had been issued a work card to get a job as an after-school day-care teacher at Creative Beginnings at 5345 E. Bonanza Road.

While in the neighborhood where the pornography was found, detectives spotted two boys, ages 5 and 7, whom they recognized from the videotapes, the report says.

Winbush had recently moved from that area to the 6100 block of Babson Avenue near Washington Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard.

Detectives went to his home Saturday and he agreed to go to the sexual assault office to give a taped statement. Another detective was sent out to interview the two boys.

The 7-year-old boy reported that that Winbush had molested him more than five times.

Police said Winbush told them he had sexual contact with the boys on three occasions, and detectives say he also admitted to taking explicit photographs of two boys who attend the day-care center.

Phil Irish, owner of Creative Beginnings, said he and his staff were "shocked and distraught" when told of Winbush's arrest. He had been employed there for a few years.

"He's not working here anymore, obviously," Irish said. He is in the process of notifying parents of Winbush's arrest and he said he expects many of them to be "scared and upset."

"A lot of parents liked him and trusted him," Irish said. "This is an awful thing."

He was popular among the children, too. When he didn't come into work Monday, the kids asked where he was, Irish said.

Winbush had to go through a background check in order to get a work card, and there was no criminal record found.

Day-care center officials are cooperating with the investigation, Shoemaker said.

Shoemaker said it's "entirely possible that (Winbush) has more victims," and anyone with any information is asked to call Metro's sexual assault office at 229-3421.

"Obviously we are conducting a thorough investigation," Shoemaker said, adding that the police can offer "many avenues for therapy for children that will help them get through this."