News

Toddler Allegedly Attacks 18-Month-Old at Daycare & Parents Want Justice

NewsPublished Dec 11, 2018
By Genny Glassman
DakotaFacebook/Trent Latoye Hudson

Two parents are fighting for justice after their 18-month-old son came home from daycare with scratches running down his face. The boy's mom, Latoye Sutter, says that she was told that a 4-year-old child, who also attends the daycare center, was behind the attack and that it occurred while the childcare provider wasn't looking. But that answer isn't good enough for these furious parents. Now, they're looking for what really happened to their boy and are hoping to hold the daycare accountable for what he's been through. “I want the community to know because I want my son to be the last victim,” his dad said.

Latoye found out over text message that her son had been attacked by another child and she was outraged when she saw a photo.-placeholder
Latoye found out over text message that her son had been attacked by another child and she was outraged when she saw a photo.
Facebook/Trent Latoye Hudson

Latoye found out over text message that her son had been attacked by another child and she was outraged when she saw a photo.

According to WLOX, the mom had received a message about  9:03 p.m. December 6 that her son Dakota had been scratched in the face by another child at the Pooh and the Crew home daycare in Pascagoula, Mississippi. 

"I asked [the childcare provider] to send me some photos. It took her a minute to send them back, but when I saw the photos I left immediately,” Latoye said. 

"When I made it to the house, she [the daycare owner] was holding my son," she continued. "He had cream all over his face. She explained to me that she had stepped away to light the fireplace, and when she came back my son was crying and covered in blood.”

The daycare worker told the mom that the attack happened in seconds but later stated that it might have been minutes while she had her back turned.-placeholder
The daycare worker told the mom that the attack happened in seconds but later stated that it might have been minutes while she had her back turned.
Facebook/Trent Latoye Hudson

The daycare worker told the mom that the attack happened in seconds but later stated that it might have been minutes while she had her back turned.

The unnamed daycare provider told Latoye that a 4-year-old had scratched up her boy. “She said my son was laying on his cot sleeping, and the other child was next to him on his cot on the iPad when she stepped out of the room. She said they were okay ... and the next thing she knew my son was crying, and when she came back over and turned the light on my son was standing there covered in blood," the mom remembered.

Latoye said that the daycare center didn't call 911 so she took her son to the hospital to get checked out.-placeholder
Latoye said that the daycare center didn't call 911 so she took her son to the hospital to get checked out.
Facebook/Trent Latoye Hudson

Latoye said that the daycare center didn't call 911 so she took her son to the hospital to get checked out.

The police and the Department of Human Services were later called to the scene. And Latoye remembers the chilling words one responding officer told her when he saw her son: "'It looks like your son was mauled by an animal.'”

The Department of Health was also called by the DHS, and Liz Sharlot, spokesperson for the Department of Health, explained to reporters that the daycare facility was unlicensed and run out of a residential home. “This facility is not licensed, nor has it applied for a license. We are currently investigating the matter. It is important to remember that not all facilities need to be licensed -- it just depends on the circumstances." 

Dakota was only a student at Pooh and The Crew for a month before he was attacked, and his mom said that she chose the facility because it operates after normal business hours.

At the hospital, Dakota was given a cream for his eyes that has to be applied twice a day "because he was also scratched in his eyes,” his mom explained.

Now Latoye is seeking justice for her son. She said that her boy's personality has completely changed since the attack.-placeholder
Now Latoye is seeking justice for her son. She said that her boy's personality has completely changed since the attack.
Facebook/Trent Latoye Hudson

Now Latoye is seeking justice for her son. She said that her boy's personality has completely changed since the attack.

In a post that has since gone viral online, the mom shared photos of her boy with the bright red scratches on his face and pledged that she won't rest until the serious wrong against her son has been fixed.

The mom explained that the story is particularly worrying given how her son's entire personality has changed. She told WLOX that Dakota is “a little withdrawn. He’s clingy. If you get up to go to another room, he follows you. He doesn’t just venture off like he used to by himself,” she said.

The mom also claimed that the child who attacked her boy has a history of violence against other kids at other daycare centers. 

“And [the daycare] knew this child had these types of issues. There’s no reason why he should have been left alone even for a second with a 1-year-old,” she said. She also claimed that the child who attacked her son has been kicked out of other daycares before for violence.

“For whatever reason the child did it, the child did it in a rage," she added.

No charges have been filed against the daycare center, but online the mom lamented about how hard it's been to watch her child suffer without being able to help. 

"IMAGINE having SLEEPLESS nights because your CHILD has gotten INJURED and YOU HAD NO CONTROL OVER IT," she wrote on Facebook. "I'M SUPPOSE TO PROVIDE AND PROTECT and I WASN'T THERE TO PROTECT HIM."

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