A 5-minute error, 25 years on child abuse list?

A 5-minute error, 25 years on child abuse list?

The 3-year-old girl was sitting alone on a playground swingset. A passing teacher knew something wasn't right. She stayed with her until a day care worker realized her error and rushed back outside.

It was a mistake that lasted five minutes. The little girl from Slingerlands, Caitlin, was never in danger.

Twenty months later, the College of Saint Rose honors student whose part-time job was to keep tabs on a group of toddlers at Albany's Cloverpatch Day Care Center has found herself trapped in an Orwellian vortex of government red tape. The fallout has turned her dream of becoming a teacher for children with special needs into a lingering torment.