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Prosecutors shield plea deal with Iowa babysitter

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October 13th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

ORANGE CITY, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors are keeping secret, for now, the details of a plea agreement with an Iowa daycare provider charged with fatally injuring a three-year-old girl in her care. The Iowa Attorney General’s Office and the Sioux County attorney refused Monday to release the agreement reached with 34-year-old Rochelle Sapp of Orange City.

Judge Edward Jacobson had signed an order requiring the agreement to be released Monday. The attorney general objected, saying both sides agreed the deal would be publicly filed “at or before” Thursday’s plea and sentencing. Jacobson issued an amended order Monday, agreeing the deal could be filed then.

Sapp’s charged with first-degree murder in the October 2013 death of three-year-old Autumn Elgersma. Investigators say she slammed the toddler to the floor, causing head injuries that killed her days later.