Daycare Owner From Delco Gets Prison For Child Endangerment

DREXEL HILL, PA — A Delaware County man who is the owner of a West Grove daycare was sentenced to prison this week on endangering the welfare of children charges.

James Anthony Battista, 72, of Drexel Hill, owned and operated a daycare in his home near West Grove. The Little Friends Daycare, owned by Battista and his wife, came under police investigation in 2010 and closed, according to the Chester County District Attorney's Office.

A jury in October 2020 found him guilty of three counts of Endangering the Welfare of Children.

Battista today was sentenced to 3-6 years in prison following the jury's verdict.

The three children who were abused were all under the age of seven and attended Little Friends Daycare in Penn Township, PA, between July 2006 and September 2009, according to law enforcement reports. The defendant owned and worked at the daycare during that period.

Battista was originally charged with 12 counts of five different crimes; rape of a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child under 13, contact with a minor/sexual offenses, endangering child welfare, and indecent assault of a child under 13.

The charge of child rape was withdrawn, according to court documents, and the jury found Battista guilty of the three child endangerment charges.

The victims were girls who attended the daycare when they were 3 and 4 years old, and they came forward as teenagers, the district attorney has said. The crimes reportedly occurred over a three-year period, from 2006 to 2009.

Pennsylvania State Police and Chester County Detectives investigated. Deputy District Attorney Erin O'Brien and Assistant District Attorney Stefanie Friedman were the prosecutors.

Story by Marlene Lang