Day care worker hit and dragged nonverbal 4-year-old as he napped, Missouri suit says
When a mother returned to pick up her two children after their first day at day care, she was alarmed at the sight of their injuries, according to a Missouri lawsuit.
The mother saw a knot on her nonverbal 4-year-old’s forehead and scratches all over his face. She demanded to see surveillance footage at A Brighter Future Childcare And Development Center in St. Louis, according to the lawsuit filed June 10.
She was “shocked and heartbroken at what she discovered,” the complaint said, and is now suing the day care for damages.
McClatchy News could not reach A Brighter Future Childcare And Development Center for comment.
“What happened at A Brighter Future childcare and Development Center has shaken our family to the core, and I hope by speaking out and filing this lawsuit, we can protect other children in our community from being harmed,” the mother said in a June 18 news release from Finney Injury Law, which is representing the woman.
McClatchy News is not naming the mother to protect the identity of her children.
Video footage showed a caregiver repeatedly threaten and hit several children on various parts of their bodies with a paint stirrer stick, according to the lawsuit.
The abuse continued throughout the children’s first day on March 6, according to court documents. The mother’s 3-year-old girl was forced to stand facing the wall for approximately 47 minutes, which is against Missouri child care laws, according to the lawsuit.
The nonverbal 4-year-old boy faced repeated abuse from two caregivers throughout the day, according to the lawsuit.
The first caregiver was seen “dragging” the child, “at one point slinging him to the ground,” the complaint said. The child was also hit in the head multiple times, according to the lawsuit.
When nap time approached, another caregiver was seen “aggressively ripping” the 4-year-old’s cot away as he lay on it, the lawsuit said. The cot hit the child in the head.
A few minutes later, the caregiver hit the nonverbal child “in the face or head region multiple times with her hand,” video shows, per the lawsuit.
Throughout the day, both caregivers left the room at least 10 times, leaving the children unsupervised, which led to fights between them, according to the court records.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Office of Childhood investigated the day care’s treatment toward the two children, according to the lawsuit.
The allegations concerning the 4-year-old boy and 3-year-old girl were sustained during the investigation, and A Brighter Future was cited for 11 violations, according to the lawsuit.
“As a trusting mother, I never imagined a day care center would traumatize my young children, especially my son who requires additional support and is unable to communicate,” the mother said in the news release. “It’s devastating to discover I was wrong and that my children had to suffer.”
This story was originally published June 21, 2024 at 9:13 AM with the headline "Day care worker hit and dragged nonverbal 4-year-old as he napped, Missouri suit says."
