But the probe, which fingered 44 in-home and commercial providers, revealed only half the story.

State health officials have identified an additional 40 providers cleared for licensing from 2002 through 2004, despite their employees or family members having failed criminal screenings.

That brings to 84 the number of day care owners that, under a regulatory crackdown, have been told to sever ties with convicted workers or family members, or face closure.

Most have closed or come into compliance. But health officials acknowledge some are still under review, and they refuse to identify them.

Auditors overlooked providers because they sampled only those that had been granted written variances from the rules, said health department spokesman Steve McDonald.

The newly identified centers were given licenses without a formal variance.

Under Utah law, anyone who has been convicted of a felony, sexual crime or violence against a family member may not operate or be associated with a day care. Misdemeanor crimes, such as theft or drug possession, can be overlooked, but only with prior approval from the health department chief.

Auditors discovered regulators illegally granted variances to 44 providers for crimes ranging from driving while under the influence to sex, drug and child abuse offenses.

But crimes involving another 40 providers were judged to be so minor that they didn't merit a variance. Instead, regulators went ahead and cleared those licenses, said McDonald. The offenders "were deemed not to be a threat."

McDonald said regulators were complying with rules crafted in 1999 that allow for consideration of extenuating circumstances, such as the severity of the crime or passage of time since it occurred.

But in their October report, auditors said those rules are probably illegal, prompting health officials to retire them.

Now the only way to get around a failed criminal screening is to have the offender's record expunged through the courts.

That's a hardship for small, neighborhood centers, especially in rural areas, say child care professionals and their client parents.

"I'm not defending high-risk criminals. I applaud the efforts to protect children and weed out those who have no business being in the day care business," said Moab mother of three Lisa Roman. "But things are not always just black and white."

Roman agonized about whether to place her youngest in child care, researched her options and chose Tami Woodruff's in-home center.

Woodruff's nine-year track record and glowing recommendations from townspeople assured Roman she was making the right decision, and she has no regrets.

"I trust my provider and her husband, and so do many other families who take their children there, including a local police officer and other city employees," said Roman.

But Woodruff faces losing her license by month's end, because two years ago she married a man with a 15-year-old assault charge on his record.

The incident leading to his arrest is no secret; Woodruff said he punched a drunk driver who was rear-ending his Jeep during Moab's annual Jeep Safari.

Woodruff says her husband works and has little contact with children under her care. But because he lives in the home, regulators say their hands are tied.

Roman says forcing Woodruff to jump through "legal hoops" does "nothing to change things, except on paper" and criminalizes respected professionals.

Also, she said, "There is not an abundance of day care providers in our little town, and I don't relish the prospect of traumatizing my son with changing his day care setting."

Similar scenarios are playing out across the state. But Marc Babitz, a family physician hired by the health department to improve child care regulation, is unapologetic.

"It's hard for me as a parent to justify letting people who have made bad judgments resulting in criminal convictions continue to be involved in day care," said Babitz.

"That's not to say people can't atone for their sins. But they have that option through the courts."

Audit supervisor James Behunin was neither alarmed nor surprised by the unearthing of more problem centers.

"We knew there were probably some more. But when we do our work, we do a lot of sampling. We know we don't get everything," he said.

"We got enough to raise awareness of the problem."

kstewart@sltrib.com

Auditing Utah's day care providers

* More than 80 Utah day care centers were operating from 2002 through 2004 with staff or family members who had criminal convictions that violated state licensing laws.

* The first 44 providers were found in an October legislative audit, which revealed state health officials were granting illegal variances.

* Since then, state health officials have found 40 providers that were granted licenses without variances, even though staff or family had convictions that violated licensing laws.