State officials have revoked the day care license of a South St. Paul City Council member after they say a child at her facility ingested meth.

Pam Bakken is not charged in the incident, which occurred at her in-home day care on Dec. 6. 

According to police reports, a 3-year-old boy was dropped off around 7:10 a.m., then went to a local preschool at 8:25 a.m. He returned to the day care at 11:30 a.m., at which point staff noticed he was "very talkative, fidgety and had a hard time focusing." When he vomited after lunch, the boy's mother was asked to pick him up.

At a hospital, the boy tested positive for methamphetamine and amphetamines. He told his mother he ate something he found on a rug in the bathroom of the day care that tasted "gross" and looked like an "onion crumb," according to the Dakota County Attorney's Office.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services suspended Bakken's day care license earlier this year. In a letter dated Friday, the license was revoked, citing not just "maltreatment of a child," but "the serious and chronic nature of the licensing violations and the conditions in the program."

"On February 10, 2025, Dakota County determined that you were responsible for maltreatment of a minor by neglect," the letter read. "Specifically, Dakota County determined that you are responsible for neglect because a child in your child care facility was exposed to methamphetamine related environmental hazards."

The Dakota County Attorney's Office declined to charge Bakken, saying it can't prove "beyond a reasonable doubt that the child ingested meth while at Ms. Bakken's day care," and if they did, the state is "unable to prove that Ms. Bakken knew it was present in her home and that she intentionally or recklessly allowed the child to be placed in a situation likely to harm the child's health."

Bakken remains on the council. Her term runs through Jan. 1, 2029.

WCCO has reached out to Bakken for comment.

• South St. Paul
• Methamphetamine