A Maryland daycare worker was reportedly caught on camera physically abusing a 7-year-old child after the child came home bruised.
According to local station WTTG, mother Niya Jones discovered the injuries on Thursday when, after picking up her daughter, she observed her wincing while trying to put on a seatbelt.
She then went back inside the daycare to ask what happened, but everybody reportedly played innocent, claiming they hadn’t witnessed anything.
“I was distressed. I didn’t know how to feel because I’ve never been put in this situation where my child was caused bodily harm or bruised at all. I didn’t know what to think. Didn’t know what to feel. I felt like she was protected. I didn’t feel like staff was doing their job to communicate or to let me know what’s going on at all,” Jones recalled.
She may be seen below:
Afterward, she called the police, and then on Friday her daughter told investigators her side of the story.
“I was just told it was going to be okay, like don’t be scared. I feel as parents it’s good to ask your child every day, how was your day? What happened? Did anybody hurt you? How do you feel? Anybody mean to you? Just the basic questions to get a feel of, you know, how this child’s day went,” Jones said.
All her questions were finally answered when the police obtained surveillance footage from the daycare facility.
The footage “shows an employee in a green shirt shoving” her daughter, according to WTTG.
“Moments later, she’s seen pulling the girl to another location. You clearly see the 7-year-old grab a wall, not willing to go. From another angle, a different camera appears to show the employee forcing the girl to the floor,” the station notes.
“If this, which appeared to be her normal character, as far as putting her hands on a child if she’s frustrated and not doing what she’s saying — what other children have been harmed, and the parents have not found out about it?” Jones’s sister, Lataysha Reynolds, wondered.
The good news is that justice is being served.
Lexus Austin, the daycare owner’s daughter, told WTTG that the responsible employee has been fired over her “unacceptable” behavior.
“She’s never shown any signs of that. She’s very gentle, kind-hearted. I can’t even explain what was going through her head at the situation,” Austin said.
“I’ve never had this situation with any other employee. So, for her to do that, it just, I don’t know. I can’t really put into words because I’m still … because it’s so new, it’s definitely devastating that it happened,” she added.
Austin further claimed that nothing else like this has ever occurred in the 20 years that the daycare has been open.
“She also [said] this was the employee’s first time working in the day care field. She passed the background check, according to Austin,” WTTG notes.
Here’s the mind-blowing part of the story: When pressed about her actions, the now-fired employee claimed she hadn’t done anything wrong by touching Jones’ child.
The police staunchly disagreed.
“The Prince George’s County Police Child and Vulnerable Adult Abuse Unit arrested 21-year-old Latayzia Forbes of Bowie Friday evening in connection to the alleged crime. … She has been charged with second-degree child abuse and second-degree assault,” according to WTTG.
As for the daycare, Austin said they’re looking into and trying to figure out how to prevent this from ever happening again.
“To start working, we ask if they have their 90-hour child care certificate. If not, we require them to receive it during employment. Once they obtain that we proceed to having them take a 45-hour infants and toddlers course and 45-hour preschool,” she said.
But clearly, these requirements weren’t enough, and the prerequisites for the job will need to be tightened.
So just how common is daycare abuse? According to the Turley Law Firm, based out of Dallas, over 2,000 daycare providers were accused of abuse in 2017 alone.
“The actual number of children abused in these facilities is likely much higher. Child daycare providers also do not stop at physical abuse; more than 20% of abusers who were daycare providers committed acts of sexual abuse,” the firm notes.
This is a big problem because this abuse “leads to long-term consequences,” including higher chances of teen pregnancy, higher chances of the victim later becoming an abuser, and higher chances of needing future drug rehabilitation/treatment.
“Children who suffer abuse are likely to have physical and emotional damage both at the time of the abuse as well as for many years afterward. If you have any reason to believe your child is being subjected to neglect or abuse in a daycare center, get them to safety as soon as possible and speak with an experienced child abuse attorney for help,” the law firm notes.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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