Jason Schwaller and Kimberly Huebner

The parents, Jason Schwaller and Kimberly Huebner, of the sexually abused little girl are speaking out.

From The Sheboygan Press:

Choking back tears at times, the father of a now 11-month old girl who was sexually assaulted in June said Monday he hopes whoever committed the crime “gets punished to the fullest extent of the law,” and reiterated his plea for the community to help find the person responsible.

“This little 11-month-old girl I’m holding right now never deserved this,” said Jason Schwaller, 25, of Waldo, the infant’s father, at a late-afternoon news conference in front of the Sheboygan County Court House. “She didn’t do anything wrong to anybody. She’s helpless. No child or parents should have to go through this.”

It was the first time the parents, Schwaller and Kimberly Huebner, 27, of Adell, spoke publicly since news of the assault broke late last week.

...A representative of Our Lady of the Lakes Church has said he does not believe the assault occurred at the day care center, but the parents of the baby girl believe someone at the center may be responsible.

“What we do know is that she was dropped off healthy and when she was picked up, she wasn’t in the same condition, a condition that required reconstructive surgery,” Schwaller said.

...Investigators have served search warrants on the day-care center, 429 Third St., and the Our Lady of the Lakes Church offices, 230 Butler St., also in Random Lake. A search warrant was also served on the home of the day care center’s supervisor, who lives in Fond du Lac County.

The baby girl suffered injuries consistent with sexual penetration that required reconstructive surgery, doctors said in an affidavit filed with the three search warrants.

This is such an awful crime.

I don't know how anyone could do that to an innocent child.

Wearing a wide-brimmed, floppy pink hat and a white outfit with a doily pattern, the infant girl sucked quietly on a green pacifier during the news conference, with her eyes closed, held alternately by her father and mother.

“She’s healed up very well, she’s doing good,” Schwaller said. “She still has more doctor visits, many to follow. But they said she’s doing good. She’s happy to be home. She’s been playing and laughing and giggling …”

Schwaller and Huebner said they hoped the news conference might bring in tips to help investigators locate the person who committed the crime, possibly from someone recognizing the infant girl at the day care center.

The parents trotted out the baby before the cameras in hopes that someone might recognize her?

I don't think the floppy hat was a good idea if that's the case. It hid her face. They should have given the media a photo.

“Any information that they might have, even if they think it’s insignificant, might not be as insignificant as they think,” Huebner said. “It might be a missing piece to the puzzle.”

The baby was at the day care center on June 26 from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. the day of the assault when Schwaller picked up the child. The injuries were discovered later that day by the baby’s grandmother, who found blood in the girl’s diaper and extensive bruising and tearing of her vaginal area while changing a diaper.

Schwaller said there was an error in the affidavit, which said the baby’s grandmother discovered the injuries at 10 p.m. that night, but he said he could not discuss the timeline of that day’s events because of the ongoing investigation.

It's the timeline that doesn't seem to fit.

Weird that Schwaller said there was an error in the affidavit and then he said he couldn't discuss it. He just did!

The parents, who are not married and do not live together, said they and other family members have been cleared by investigators, which is why the baby is in their custody.

“We have nothing to hide as parents, we did nothing wrong,” Schwaller said. “Some things may have been done different, but we are all in shock. You never expect this to happen to your own daughter. This is definitely the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life, and I think it’s every parent’s nightmare.”

This news conference wasn't for the baby. It was for the parents.

I think they wanted to prove that they are innocent by going before the media.

It must be horrible for them. Not only was their baby assaulted but they're coming under scrutiny as possibly linked to the crime.

Ed Ritger, an attorney who is a member of the parish and chairman of its finance committee, said he does not believe there is any evidence the assault occurred at the day-care center.

“We have seven women who worked at that center or visited that center that day who found this little girl in the three or four hours before the father picked the child up to be smiling, to be pleasant, having a very mild and happy disposition,” Ritger said. “And it just seems that’s inconsistent with the kind of injuries that we’re describing here.”

The supervisor at the day-care center was placed on administrative leave when the investigation began, Ritger said.

“We’re not sure where it happened, but we haven’t seen any evidence that it happened at the child care center,” Ritger said.

Schwaller said he is upset that Ritger said the day-care center doesn’t believe the injury to their daughter happened there.

“Where does he think it happened?” Schwaller said. “He might as well say the family did it instead of beating around the bush. It is the family’s belief that the injuries occurred at the day care.”

What I don't understand is why the day care is still open and parents are taking their children there.

Schwaller and Huebner have custody of the baby because they've been cleared by investigators.

OK. Then the assumption must be that the assault happened at the day care.

So why do other parents continue to trust the center with their kids?

That's so strange. They must very confident that no crime occurred there.

Strange.