Day care didn’t report 4-year-old’s sexual abuse caught on camera, Texas lawsuit says
After a mother sat with day care staff to watch surveillance footage showing her 4-year-old son being sexually abused by a caregiver, she assumed they would file a report, according to a Texas lawsuit.
The footage showed Efain Jesus Bonilla inappropriately touching the 4-year-old boy while he was napping, according to the lawsuit filed on June 10.
Despite the mother’s assumption, the Dallas-area day care never reported the Jan. 6, 2023 incident to the Department of Family and Protective services, despite their obligation to do so, the complaint said. Bonilla continued to work with the children.
The 4-year-old’s mother called DFPS herself, according to the lawsuit. Now, she’s seeking more than $1 million in emotional damages.
The mother’s call to officials launched a state investigation into the day care, By The Barnyard Gate in Sachse, and Bonilla was eventually fired, according to the complaint. The investigation sustained the abuse allegations, the lawsuit said.
By The Barnyard Gate could not be reached for comment by McClatchy News on June 18.
Bonilla was arrested and charged with indecency with a child, the lawsuit said. He has been released on bond, according to WFAA.
Bonilla’s attorney information was not available.
“I am heartbroken over the abuse that my child experienced at By the Barnyard Gate and furious that the school allowed it to happen to him,” the mother said in a June 17 news release.
McClatchy News is not naming the mother to protect the identity of the child.
The facility was cited twice as a result of the investigation, and the day care has also had previous citations, per the lawsuit.
Between 2019 and 2023, the facility was cited 20 times for various reasons including failing to properly supervise children and have the required safety alarms in the transportation vehicles, according to the complaint.
By The Barnyard Gate had “24 deficiencies found out of 4,095 standards evaluated,” according to the Texas Health and Human Services Department, over the last 60 months.
“My son’s innocence should have been protected at this school,” the mother said in the release.
Sachse is about a 25-mile drive northeast of Dallas.
This story was originally published June 18, 2024 at 2:03 PM with the headline "Day care didn’t report 4-year-old’s sexual abuse caught on camera, Texas lawsuit says."
