A Long Island woman was arrested Monday after allegedly passing out intoxicated in front of infants she was watching at a day care center in Babylon.
Maria Rubino, 38, of Great Neck, was caring for a group of five children ranging in age from 4-18 months when she fainted around 12:40 p.m. Monday at Pride and Joy Childcare.
While being taken for treatment at Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip, a paramedic allegedly smelled alcohol on her breath and witnessed other signs of intoxication, the Suffolk County Police Department said.
Rubino has since been charged with five counts of endangering the welfare of a child and is scheduled to be arraigned in March.
Stephanie Spence, the day care’s director, told News 12 that Rubino seemed fine when she arrived at the start of her shift but was found hunched over roughly 90 minutes later.
“Couple hours later, we did get a visit from [Child Protective Services] and we were notified that she had some type of drug and alcohol in her system,” Spence told the station.
Rubino, who had only been working there for two weeks, has since been fired. She previously worked at other day care centers and as a substitute teacher, and had been cleared by the state, Spence confirmed.
“We just want to keep the children here safe. That is our number one priority here,” she said. “We are so sorry to all the families that this even happened.”