Former MCAS Yuma daycare employee withdraws guilty plea

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - A former child daycare employee at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma, charged with abusing multiple children, withdrew her guilty plea prior to her sentencing.

29-year-old Valerie McKinstry pled guilty to two felony counts of child abuse and eleven misdemeanor counts of child endangerment.

As part of accepting the guilty plea, McKinstry would have received supervised probation.

On Wednesday, before sentencing, with over half of the victims' parents in attendance with large-printed photos of each child, the judge opened the floor for victim impact statements.

The parents speaking on behalf of their children, opposed the "no jail time" part of the plea deal and expressed how the punishment does not fit the crime.

McKinstry's defense team later withdrew the guilty plea and in turn, Yuma Superior Court Judge David Haws rejected the agreement.

The case now is back at square one and possibly with a different judge. 

McKinstry will be back in court next month.