BRIDGETON, Mo. – Police shut down an illegal in-home daycare that was also housing a now-convicted child molester.

The case began with three courageous children and their parents, who stepped forward in 2022. It involved a daycare being run out of a home on Fee Fee Road, about a block and a half south of St. Charles Rock Road. A man who lived inside the home is now serving prison time.

FOX 2 spoke with the mother who was key to cracking the case. We are safeguarding her identity due to the abuse her child suffered.

She said the perpetrator “…told all of the kids, ‘If you say something, nobody is going to believe you; you’re a kid. Grown-ups don’t believe kids.’”

“We knew right away that we had to move pretty quickly on it,” Detective Matt Paxton, Bridgeton Police Department, said.

Bridgeton police believed the children and headed immediately to the home, which was not licensed as a daycare.

“Right away, we saw a lot of children five years or younger,” Paxton said. “We did a head count, and it was 14 children in the home.”

That’s more than double the number of children that require a license. Bridgeton police also brought in the Children’s Advocacy Center to do the interviews with the reported child victims, one of whom also needed a translator.

The mother we spoke to told us, “They make us feel safe. They, my daughter, kept saying that thanks to them, he is where he is right now.”

She’s referring to Roberto Colula-Uribe, who pleaded guilty to felony sodomy and child molestation. Last month, the court sentenced him to 18 years in prison for his crimes. Police allege the abuse started years ago and fear there could be more victims.

FOX 2 visited the property on Monday. No one answered.

Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education wrote the provider: “We have determined that you were operating in violation of Missouri Statutes, but have since reduced the number of children in your care.” (Which is “No more than six children, with a maximum of three being under two.”)

Police also recently followed up.

“She was no longer operating a daycare. She had stopped approximately eight months ago,” Paxton said.

You should always check to see if a daycare is licensed because inspectors are looking for things like the backgrounds of employees or other people who might have contact with your children. You can check yourself here. You can search by facility name or address for in-home daycares.