"No Prison Time for … Day-Care Provider Who Tried to Hang Toddler"

Minnesota state judge Jay Quam took the view that her actions stemmed from a "perfect storm of factors unlikely to ever be repeated."

So reports Paul Walsh (Minneapolis Star-Tribune); the sentence was 10 years of probation, with credit for the 20 months she spent in jail before trial:

A judge pointed to a "perfect storm" of circumstances Monday when he spared prison for a Minneapolis home day-care operator who attempted to hang a toddler in the basement before fleeing in her minivan and leaving a trail of mayhem, seriously injuring two people.

Nataliia Karia, 43, abandoned a possible insanity defense and pleaded guilty in February to attempted murder in connection with the hanging of the boy from a noose ….

The 16-month-old survived after a parent dropping off a child intervened and took the noose from the boy's neck.

Karia also admitted before Hennepin County District Judge Jay Quam to third-degree assault for striking a pedestrian, another driver and a bicyclist as she fled in her minivan. She was snatched from a Minneapolis freeway overpass, ready to jump, and taken into custody….

In deciding against prison time, Quam agreed with the assessment by doctors that Karia was "a low risk" to reoffend. He called her actions "the perfect storm of factors unlikely to ever be repeated." …

Karia, who fought back tears and low sobs throughout the hearing, read a statement in Russian spelling out in great detail the abuses she alleges her husband inflicted upon her and her children since they arrived to the United States from Ukraine in 2006. She said he hit and threatened to kill her, drove the family into financial ruin, forced her to work despite her psychological struggles and prevented her from getting medical attention.