By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

A day care worker sprinkled drugs on snacks to get children in her day care to sleep during the day, according to charges filed on Monday. Tammy Eppley denies the charges and says that the accusations are a misunderstood joke. She was charged in Franklin County Municipal Court, Ohio with six counts of child endangerment after police in suburban Westerville say they obtained text messages in which she admits giving children the allergy drug Benadryl and Melatonin, a hormone and sleep aid. 'Tammy was bragging about how they were all perfectly still and being quiet or asleep,' said a police report describing a video Eppley allegedly recorded on her cellphone and sent a friend.

'Tammy jokes about one of the children almost discovering her actions by remarking that the sprinkles on some cupcakes tasted funny.' Eppley is also accused of mixing crushed Benadryl into pancake batter and juice for the children at her daycare, Caterpillar Clubhouse, Westerville police Det. Richard Tiburzio said in an interview on Monday. Eppley, 37, denied the charges in a phone interview, saying Tiburzio was 'obsessed' with pursing the charges against her. She said she did provide drugs to children but only after getting permission from their parents.

She acknowledged making light of giving the drugs in text messages to a friend but said they were jokes. Eppley described the comments as 'very tongue-in-cheek'. 'It was, ''Good grief, I wish these kids would go to sleep, I wish I could drug them,''' she said. 'I do regret making that comment, obviously,' she said. 'It was not, ''I did it.'''

Tiburzio said he stands by the investigation and there is other evidence in the case. Franklin County Children Services concluded an investigation in May and are not presently working with Eppley, said spokesman Bruce Cadwallader. 'So to us it's unsubstantiated,' he said. 'But the police have a different role than we do.'

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

A 33-year-old former English teacher sentenced to parole after admitting she had sex with a 15-year-old male student, was 'heavily depressed' at the time, her attorneys said today. Erica DePalo, from Montclair, New Jersey, has been sentenced to a three-year suspended sentence, meaning she will not serve jail time but will be registered as a sex offender. The former Essex County Teacher of the Year pleaded guilty in February and agreed today to never seek public or government employment again, nor have any contact with her victim.

Erica DePalo, who taught at West Orange High School, suffered from depression, anxiety and bi-polar disorder during the affair, her attorneys said in court today, NJ.com reported. Her mental state was factored into her plea deal and her attorney Anthony Alfano said: 'She was functioning in the classroom, but she was feeling it inside. She was heavily, heavily depressed.' DePalo had previously been prescribed anti-depressants, which Alfano said should not have been given to a bi-polar sufferer.

'She thought she was too good, that she could do anything', he said. During her sentencing, the former teacher said: 'I feel nothing but remorse for my actions and deep, deep sadness for all I've lost because of them.' DePalo was initially charged last August, with aggravated sexual assault and a second count of sexual assault since the student was 15 and could not consent. Those charges were dropped as part of the plea deal. She could have faced up to 10 years in prison if convicted on all initial charges.

She told Judge Peter Ryan in February that on June 27, 2012 she had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old boy, who was also her student, who had came to her apartment after school. Assistant Prosecutor Tony Gutierrez said in February that he had spoken with the boy's father and the family was happy with the initial plea deal. Gutierrez said text messages between the two ‘made it clear they were in something of a relationship.' Prosecutors have said the relationship was the only one DePalo had with a minor and that it lasted from June 15 until Aug. 28.

The plea came early, before the case was heard by the grand jury. ‘It's fair to say everybody wanted to get this over and done with,’ Gutierrez said. DePalo had been a teacher for nearly a decade and a career high point came when she was named Essex County's teacher of the year in 2011 for her work with freshmen and sophomores. She taught honors English, creative writing, college prep and journalism and coached junior varsity girls tennis. The single woman had been held at a northern New Jersey lock-up in lieu of $100,000 bail.

'I don’t have any children,' DePalo remarked after winning her award, 'and I always say that I don’t have any children to go home and take care of. 'But every morning and every day that I go to school I have 110 children that are very near-and-dear to my heart.'

She graduated from Villanova University - a Roman-Catholic college in Philadelphia - with an English degree, before continuing her studies at New York University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, where she earned her master's in Liberal Studies.