By Forum Staff
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Thursday that a married couple has been indicted for allegedly abusing nine infants and toddlers at the day care center they operated from their Jamaica Estates home.
Ilya Davydov, 48, has been charged with five counts of attempted assault in the second degree and seven counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Ksenia Davydov, 41, has been charged with four counts of attempted assault in the second degree and seven counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
According to the charges and investigation, Ksenia Davydov had a New York state license to operate KSE Service Inc., a day care center in her home on 188th Street. In late December 2023, acting on an anonymous tip that children were being abused inside the home, the police and the State Office of Children and Family Services, which licenses child day care facilities, visited the location and immediately shut it down for various violations. In addition, the police obtained a court-authorized search warrant for the premises and a large cache of video from surveillance cameras was recovered.
During the investigation that followed, NYPD investigators and members of the District Attorney’s office reviewed hundreds of hours of video from inside the location which contained various recorded incidents of abuse and endangering. Together they worked to identify the children depicted in the videos. As reflected in the charges contained in the indictment, the investigation revealed that:
- Ksenia Davydov, on various dates, abused an 11-month-old boy by, among other things, forcing an apparently soiled diaper into his mouth, holding a pillow over the infant’s face, carrying the infant—sometimes upside down—by his limbs and dropping him onto furniture. Ilya Davydov hit the infant in the head.
- On multiple dates, a 3-year-old boy was abused when, among other things, Ilya Davydov suspended him in the air by grabbing the child around the neck with both hands, dropped the child into a crib and kicked the child.
- Ksenia Davydov shoved a 17-month-old off a sofa causing the child to fall onto the floor.
- On various dates, a 17-month-old boy was abused when, among other things, Ilya Davydov struck the child in the head and suspended him in the air by lifting him off the floor from the hood of his jacket; Ksenia Davydov suspended the child in the air upside down by holding his shirt and leg and then dropped him onto a table causing the child’s cochlear implants to detach from his head.
- Ilya Davydov kicked a 19-month-old in the back.
- Ilya Davydov suspended a 17-month-old girl in the air by grabbing her arm and then dropped her into a crib.
- Ksenia Davydov yanked a 21-month-old by the arm.
- Ksenia Davydov and Ilya Davydov each suspended a 15-month-old in the air by the arm on various dates.
- Ksenia Davydov threw objects at a 14-month-old boy. On various dates, Ilya Davydov shoved the child causing him to fall face down on a sofa, suspended the child in the air by grabbing the child’s arm, suspended him in the air by grabbing the child’s shirt, and threw the child into a crib.
If convicted of the top count, both face a potential sentence of up to 1 1/3 to four years in prison on each count of attempted assault in the second degree, which is the maximum allowed under the law.
