AURORA, Colo. — An Aurora daycare did report the alleged attack of a 5-year-old by an employee to the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC), as legally required.
Aujanair David said she was told on April 6 that an employee at A Plus Learning Center attacked her 5-year-old daughter.
"Just grabbed her by her arms and was slamming her into the concrete wall over and over," said David.
David found out for the first time when she came to pick up her daughter at 4:30 p.m., even though the alleged incident happened at 10:30 a.m. Another teacher reportedly tried to intervene.
"[She] tried to grab my daughter from her and she said, "No, she's not going anywhere because she's not listening," and then smacked her in her mouth," David told Denver7.
The CDEC rates A Plus Learning Center as a Level 5, the highest rating option. However, CDEC documents also shows four investigations into child abuse/neglect since 2021. One case from March 2022 cited the facility for not giving an incident report to parents after a child was injured. That's something David said she experienced too.
"I made them write the document of what happened because nothing was documented at all. Not only did they not call us, but they didn't document the incident," said David.
The written incident report eventually provided to David read:
Incident: Teacher grabbed her by the arms and slammed her over and over against the concrete wall outside and smacked her in the mouth.
Circumstances surrounding incident: Child was told to get in line and teacher flipped out and proceeded to do what she did.
How staff resolved issue?: Other teacher took her up front and talked to [another employee.]
A Plus Learning Center reported the incident on April 7, according to the CDEC.
"CDEC has received preliminary information on a report of this incident from law enforcement and county child protection," a CDEC spokesperson told Denver7 in a statement. "At this time, law enforcement will not be investigating, but the [Arapahoe County Department of Human Services] has accepted this for investigation."
DHS will ultimately determine if the incident needs to be assigned to a caseworker, according to Colorado Division of Child Welfare Deputy Director Yolanda Arredondo.
“It is very common for local law enforcement and county departments of human services across the state to work together when they are assessing or investigating an allegation of child abuse or neglect," Arredondo said. "If there is an immediate safety concern, then a caseworker and a casework supervisor are making a decision about how best to intervene in that situation to prevent future maltreatment."
Most cases will take about 60 days to assess, Arredondo told Denver7. Law enforcement will take the lead if it is determined charges, or an arrest, are a necessary response.
Anyone can report abuse or suspected abuse by calling the 24-hour state hotline 1-844-CO-4-KIDS.
“They don't have to gather any additional information when they call. They can just call because they have a concern. For example, last year and 2022, we took over 191,000 calls on our hotline,” Arredondo said.
For more information regarding the Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline, click here.
