Parents Demand Answers as Their 1-Year-Old Gets Bitten Multiple Times at Day Care

Image of a child's hand. (Rita E/Pixabay)

Parents of a 1-year-old are demanding answers after their daughter was bitten eight times at a pre-school in Maricopa, Arizona on April 25.

Rylee Umsted went to pick up his daughter Mila from Sunrise Preschools when he found bite marks all over her back. The accused is a 2-year-old from the same classroom who has been expelled.

“She was shaking and I knew she didn’t want to be there,” Umsted told ABC15 Arizona.

The parents were told that the incident happened in only 30 seconds and about 20 minutes before the father arrived at the school. The teacher told them that there were only three children in the classroom when the incident happened.

“A teacher was changing a diaper... when another child went on top of her and started biting her,” Mila’s mother, Rocio Enriquez said.

“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?” Enriquez added.

The mother said she couldn’t believe it until she saw it. The couple accused the daycare of not letting them see the surveillance video.

“We don’t know what to think because we don’t know the true answer,” Umsted said. “But there’s a video out there that tells the truth.”

The couple doesn’t want the same to happen to any other child and wants changes made at the daycare facility.

“Sunrise should’ve either had two teachers in that room or they need different training,” Umsted said.

Lashawna Goulburne, the mother of the accused 2-year-old, said she only came to know about the incident the next day, and didn’t know that police was called for her child’s actions.

“He’s not at fault here,” Goulburne told ABC 15. “He’s two, and we pay, not only me but the other family, we pay for our children to be protected and be monitored and safe.”

The School’s Response

Dana Vela, President of Sunrise Preschools, told the media in a written statement that the school is sorry about the incident. She said the caregiver who was present with the children then has been suspended without pay till further investigations take place.

She called the incident “heartbreaking and unacceptable” and said the school will work to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“We are deeply concerned about the incident that occurred at the Sunrise Preschools Maricopa location. The safety of our children is our number one priority. Sunrise Preschools immediately provided care and assistance to the injured child.

“We are in contact with parents of both children involved. We are cooperating with the proper authorities and are unable to provide additional details at this time,” she said in the statement.

The president invited questions and input from the community at [email protected].

“Our mission is to educate as well as care for children. In this instance Sunrise will use this unfortunate incident as a way to further educate ourselves with input from our parents and the community,” she said.

Another Similar Case Reported in Arizona

Another Arizona mother has reported a similar case on social media of her 15-month-old who was bitten 25 times in another daycare.

Alice Martin said her daughter studying at Tucson’s Creative Beginnings Preschool came back home fussier than on a usual day two month ago.

“Within 5 days of starting her new daycare, my daughter was bit 25+ times. I filed a police report for negligence and notified the Department of Health who handles daycare accreditation, the case has is still under investigation,” the mother said in a Facebook post on April 29.

“The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) is investigating the incident at Creative Beginnings Daycare and working with law enforcement. The investigation is not completed and ADHS cannot comment on pending investigations,” said the Arizona Department of Health Services in a statement released to Fox News.