Video: Daycare owner says she didn't check Brown's background

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SEATTLE - A North Seattle daycare was forced to shut down after the state discovered a sex offender was living in the home. But the daycare owner says he wasn't living there at all.

The daycare provider told KING 5 she would never put the children in any danger. But the state says a sex offender had been living with her for months - and parents had no idea.

For three years, Seiri DuPen has been caring for children out of her home. But on Friday she lost her license.

"It was still at the same time taking something away that I had built, that I loved, that was a privilege for the kids and for me, and my livelihood," she said.

The state says DuPen allowed Patrick Neale Brown, a registered sex offender, to live in her home.

"She says 'Your daycare has been closed because there's been a sex offender residing on the premises,' and I said 'Excuse me, what?'" said Elle Bunch, who got the phone call from a worker with the Department of Early Learning to pick up her son immediately.

"A lot of things have been going on for a long time and that it took so long to notify the parents whose children are there everyday," she continued.

Brown's criminal record includes sex crimes against children in Virginia, possession of heroin and eluding officers in California.

But DuPen claims she didn't know about his past.

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Patrick Neale Brown

"I didn't background check him because he was… outside and away from the kids," she said.

DuPen says Brown was hired to do work around the house and allowed him to store his tools in her garage, but denies he ever lived there.

"No, a registered sex offender was definitely not living in my house," she said.

That's little comfort to Elle Bunch who wants to send a message to mothers of young children.

"One of my big messages to moms is to keep checking up, even if it's been the best place. You never know," she said.

Under state rules, DuPen can still operate an unlicensed preschool for children for no more than 4 hours a day, so she can still care for children at her home.