Police interviews with Greene's former charges turned up accounts of bruises, cigarette burns, dislocated arms, and vicious threats, all allegedly perpetrated by Greene. One boy told investigators that Greene had thrown him against a washing machine because he had wet his pants. That was in 1992. Greene remained in business five more years, until Raegan's death. Kristine Ragaglia, the child advocate for the state of Connecticut, acknowledges that faulty reporting was part of the problem.
Most states keep day-care records at the county level.
Parents can review the records, but obtaining access to the files isn't always easy. When a reporter recently requested information on 19 day-care homes in Anne Arundel County, Md., she was asked to limit herself to four requests and was told that the county could take 30 days to respond. That would discourage many busy parents. Reviewing a file is a good precaution, but not an ironclad one. Doctors described her injury as equivalent to falling headfirst from a two-story building onto concrete.