Parenting

Toddler Attacked on 2nd Day -- but Daycare Won’t Let Her Parents See the Video

ParentingPublished Apr 30, 2019
By Genny Glassman
girl bitten at day careFox 10 Phoenix

Two parents are still reeling after their 15-month-old daughter was allegedly attacked while at her daycare center. Rylee Umsted and Rocio Enriquez from Maricopa, Arizona, claim their daughter was bitten eight times by another child as a daycare worker was busy changing another kid's diaper. But to make matters worse, the say the school is refusing to let them see video of the horrific incident to help them answer questions and understand more details about what occurred that day.

The incident happened on the girl's second day of daycare at the Maricopa location of Sunrise Preschools.-placeholder
The incident happened on the girl's second day of daycare at the Maricopa location of Sunrise Preschools.
Fox 10 Phoenix

The incident happened on the girl's second day of daycare at the Maricopa location of Sunrise Preschools.

According to Fox 10 Phoenix, Umsted was shocked to see the state of his daughter, Mila, when they went to pick her up from daycare on Thursday. The dad was told that his daughter had been bitten during the school day -- only 20 minutes before he had come to pick her up. School officials told them it was only a few bites, but when they lifted up her shirt, they could clearly see eight bite marks running down her back.

"I lifted up her shirt just a little bit, and it freaked me out," said Unstead. "I froze up, just shocked."

"She was shaking and I knew she didn't want to be there," he later told ABC 15.

Daycare officials reportedly told the parents that her teacher had missed the incident because she was busy changing another child's diaper.-placeholder
Daycare officials reportedly told the parents that her teacher had missed the incident because she was busy changing another child's diaper.
Fox10

Daycare officials reportedly told the parents that her teacher had missed the incident because she was busy changing another child's diaper.

The parents were perplexed as to how their daughter received so many bites without one of her teachers noticing the attack, but they were disheartened to learn that the daycare worker in the room was preoccupied. A daycare official told the parents that "there were three children in the classroom including my daughter," Enriquez said. "A teacher was changing a diaper... when another child went on top of her and started biting her."

But to the mom, that explanation is not okay. "One bite mark that you look at you'd be like, she'd be screaming bloody murder. So I want to know if someone heard a scream, where was management?" The daycare said that the whole incident happened in fewer than 30 seconds.

"I can't believe it until I see it," the mom said. "How much agony was my child in?" she wondered.

The parents requested surveillance footage from the school but were told that because of privacy issues they are not allowed to see it.

"We don't know what to think because we don't know the true answer," Unstead said. "But there's a video out there that tells the truth."

Now the parents are calling for the footage of the incident to be released.

Umsted and Enriquez are heartbroken about the incident and told AZFamily that they've seen a real change in their little girl. "[She is] not the same Mila we knew when we dropped her off that day," her mom said. "She’s gotten to the point where she doesn’t want anyone to lift her shirt up. She freaks out."

That is why the parents are now calling for the surveillance footage to be released -- and so no other child suffers the way that their daughter has. "Sunrise should've either had two teachers in that room or they need different training," the dad said.

In a statement given by Sunrise Preschools, President of Sunrise Preschools Dana Vela wrote that the daycare worker on staff that day has since been suspended without pay pending further investigation. And the child that bit Mila has since been expelled. She wrote this statement:

"We are truly sorry for an incident that occurred at our new center in Maricopa. This incident was heartbreaking and unacceptable and we are working diligently to ensure it does not happen again. We are reviewing all policies and procedures and will take whatever steps are needed to prevent this rare but serious matter from repeating itself. A video of the incident confirms the child was injured by another child very quickly and while the caregiver was changing a diaper. This is not meant to excuse the incident but to explain what happened. We can and will do better and this unfortunate matter has provided some hard learned lessons. After the child was injured first aid was administered, and the parents of the injured child were informed. The child who bit the classmate was expelled. While there is established protocol to address occasional biting behavior common to many toddlers, the severity of the incident demanded a more appropriate response."

The statement continued, saying Sunrise is following "internal policies and procedures as well as licensing regulations and employment law requirements throughout the investigative process. But we are also determined to do more."

Vela added that Sunrise will be reviewing procedures, studying the footage taken in the classroom, and "Additional steps are being evaluated to do everything possible to keep this from happening again."

Maricopa police said they are still investigating the incident.

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