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VIDALIA, La. — Lysa Richardson, previous owner of Noah’s Ark Daycare in Vidalia who had been convicted of juvenile cruelty to children in her care, was released from the Department of Corrections this week.

The release comes two years from the date she was sentenced to serve 9 years in prison.

According to Seventh Judicial District Attorney Brad Burget, the release did not happen because of any judicial action at the local level.

“It was strictly a Department of Corrections calculation,” Burget said. “It’s not a local decision or anything that Judge Kathy Johnson or my office did improperly.”

In Oct. 2021, the daycare was shut down by Louisiana State Police amid a child cruelty investigation. Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office seized video footage of the employees slapping, dragging and hitting children with wooden paint sticks. The investigation was given to LSP due to a conflict of interest. Concordia Parish Sheriff David Hedrick’s son was one of the children at the daycare.

Hedrick’s investigators observed more than 80 incidences of violence on a surveillance system that would only record up to two weeks of video footage, he said.

Richardson and three of her employees, Julieanne Perales, Taylor Ragonesi and Bridget Delaughter were arrested. In June 2022, all of them pleaded guilty to child cruelty charges.

Burget explained that DOC inmates are able to qualify for credits to their time in prison and may qualify for diminution of sentence known as “good time” for good behavior under Louisiana RS 15:571.3.

“Once the judge sentences someone, the time they serve is actually calculated by the DOC,” he said. “Through various things the DOC has in place, they get more good time.”

Richardson was originally sentenced to seven years at hard labor by Seventh Judicial District Judge Johnson in September 2022.

Her sentence was amended to 9 years the following December when Richardson appealed to the judge to reconsider her sentence. At the time, Johnson said new information brought to the court during the appeal showed an abusive pattern at Noah’s Ark Daycare for which Richardson was responsible.

In August this year, long time Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc resigned citing health reasons. Gov. Jeff Landry appointed Gary Westcott to the role soon after. Burget said the calculation of Richardson’s time in DOC would’ve fallen under LeBlanc’s administration.

A spokesperson from Louisiana DOC could not be reached for comment on this story as of Friday afternoon.