BOSTON -- At a time when families may be struggling to find affordable child care, the state is warning parents to think twice before using less expensive, unlicensed family day cares.

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Team 5 Investigates' Kelley Tuthill uncovered state inspection reports that detail alarming situations behind closed doors.

At an illegal day care in Methuen, 8-week-old Tyler Grealish was napping when his caregiver found him unresponsive last October. Efforts to revive him failed, and the New Hampshire infant died. Authorities have charged his caregiver, Linda Favazza, with operating an unlicensed day care.

Tuthill: "Could you tell me what happened to Tyler?"

Favazza: "I have no comment."

Tuthill: "Could you tell me why you didn't have a license to run a day care?"

Favazza: "That was my mistake. I should have had a license and it's a very sad, horrible thing for this child."

The ongoing investigation has not found Favazza responsible for Tyler's death. The medical examiner's final autopsy results are pending. However, a state report shows that the infant was placed in an "unsafe sleeping environment."

Found inside Tyler's portable crib were an adult-sized pillow and a comforter, both known for increasing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

Police also discovered Favazza was caring for 12 other children by herself -- more than double what the state would allow in a licensed family day care.

"She was breaking 21 of our child care regulations," said Amy Kershaw, acting commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care. "There's no way that provider could have been paying the right level of attention to all the kids in her care."

Even more alarming, three months after Tyler's death, the state found Favazza running a new illegal day care, this time at her sister's home. Investigators said when they arrived, Favazza was inside with two children while six more played outside, without an adult present, in a side yard with easy access to the street.

"This is a case where some of the worst of what we see in unlicensed care happened," Kershaw said.

Team 5 Investigates reviewed cease and desist orders filed against 34 illegal day cares just within the past two years.

In Somerville, an unlicensed provider admitted two adult men had "unsupervised access to child care children." And authorities said they have reason to believe one girl was sexually abused.

At another illegal day care nearby, a 5-month-old boy suffered a second-degree burn on 6% of his body and needed to be hospitalized.

At a home in Dorchester, an inspector witnessed "two little girls" using a potty chair in the basement in front of a "school age" boy. One girl "was visibly embarrassed and uncomfortable."

In Erving, an unlicensed provider admitted her 16-year-old daughter regularly cared for the children. In Winchendon, it was a 13-year-old.

The state told Team 5 Investigates, these cases highlight why parents should ask if the program is licensed. That's the only way they'll know for sure that the caregiver has safety training and the home has been inspected.

"It's unsafe to put their children in an illegally operating unlicensed program," Kershaw said.

But incredibly, that didn't stop parents in Methuen from following Favazza to her second location. In fact, according to the state's report, seven of the eight children found in Favazza's care at her sister's home had been in her care on the day Tyler died.

"Can parents be held responsible for using unlicensed care?" Tuthill asked.

"If something terrible has happened in a program and the parents choose again and again to put their children in those circumstances, we will sometimes work to file a complaint against that parent for neglect," Kershaw said.

Legislators strengthened the penalties last summer for operating an illegal day care. Violators can now spend up to 2½ years in prison.

As for Favazza, she is scheduled to appear in Lawrence District Court on Jan. 30.