Daycare Director Pleads Not Guilty to Assaulting Parishioners, Threatening Priest

The director of pleaded not guilty Tuesday to trying to run down parishioners of her host church and threatening the priest.

Prosecutors say Linda Chery-Valentin allegedly drove her SUV at the church’s rector and a parishioner on Sunday, May 6. She got out of the vehicle, prosecutors say, and pushed the rector, saying, “You are going to be sorry.”

Chery-Valentin, 46, is a Natick resident. She directs the Arc-En-Ciel Daycare and Montessori School from the basement of the 61 Rockwood St. church.

She is also the founding director of a new French bilingual Montessori school opening in Sharon this September.

"Father George, the church's priest, told FOX 25 that the owner of the daycare decided to hold an open house, but did not mention the event to church staff.  He said Chery-Valentin was mad that there were not enough parking spaces," the TV station reports. 

Chery-Valentin was arraigned on two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of assault and battery, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office.

WBZ reports that parents are having a hard time believing the charges. It also has video of her lawyer responding to the allegations.

The dispute has its roots not in the May 6 incident, but rather in a long-simmering legal wrangle, according to WBZ. The daycare's lease was not renewed after it ran out in October 2010, parishioners told the TV station. WBZ also reports that Chery-Valentin was ordered by the judge not to enter the church or rectory, though she can still go to her daycare in the basement of the complex.