A Tulsa County District Court jury awarded $2 million Friday to the family of a toddler who was abused at a local church-affiliated day care center.

The jury found that Kirk of the Hills Church acted with reckless disregard for the safety of children by not telling staff at another church-affiliated day care center that a previous employee was being investigated for abuse of a baby, according to an attorney for the family.

Kirk of the Hills officials knew Meredith Allison Howard, 41, was working for the day care center at John Knox Presbyterian Church but did not share information about the abuse investigation, the attorney, Patrick Carr, said.

“If John Knox had known that information, they would never have hired Meredith Howard,” he said.

A statement released Saturday night by Kirk of the Hills says: “We are humbled by the jury’s recent decision. Our hearts go out to the family and to the child. For over 40 years we’ve provided a loving, caring, Christ-centered environment for children. This has been our number one priority. In the coming weeks our church leadership will review the decision, as well as its effect on our current policies.”

[Editor’s note: This article is incomplete. The link (URL) to the original article is behind a paywall and has been removed.]