Child allegedly bitten several times at daycare

 

A Maricopa mom turned to Facebook to show the world what happened to her child while being taken care of at Sunrise Daycare.

On Friday evening at 7:30 Rocio Umsted wrote on Facebook, “… My daughter was enrolled into the Sunrise preschool here in Maricopa on Monday. Everything seemed fine we were impressed, Tuesday came around and my husband picked my daughter they said that there was an incident that occurred she was bit about 4times….then the teacher that was closing proceeded to tell my husband that the child that bit mine had done worst things?”

Umsted continued on Facebook, “I was upset, and I get it kids are going to be kids, but when I checked my daughter out she had about 8 bite marks all over her back…how can you justify this? The teacher had three children in the one-year classroom… she was in the middle of a diaper change when everything happened… at what point did you remove child from table and help my child? We pay good money to get our children taken care of. Moral of the story please be careful on where you leave your children for daycare.”

Maricopa Police Department was contacted about the incident Thursday and an investigation has been opened.

The post has created a frenzy of coverage from Phoenix television stations, sparking Sunrise to release a public statement.

Sunrise Social Media Statement

We are truly sorry for an incident that occurred at our new center in Maricopa.

Sunrise Preschools considers safety of the children in our care job one. It is our first priority. It is why we have been privileged to provide child care for more than three decades.

On Thursday April 25th a toddler was bitten multiple times by another toddler during a very short timeframe.

This should not have happened. Only four children were under the supervision of the caregiver watching the children. That caregiver has been suspended without pay pending further investigation.

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.

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. We are reviewing our procedures. We are studying what happened. Additional steps are being evaluated to do everything possible to keep this from happening again.

We apologize again and profusely when we fail because the trust you place in us is understood and appreciated which is why Sunrise has the outstanding reputation it has for decades in Arizona.

We are welcoming both questions and input from the community.

If you have questions, concerns, or input please email me 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.

Thank you,

Dana Vela
President Sunrise Preschools