Woodbury daycare facility investigated for child abuse and neglect
A Woodbury daycare facility is under investigation for alleged “abuse” after a nine-month-old baby broke his leg.
This week, the Minnesota Department of Human Services released a memorandum regarding an investigation into Stepping Stones Early Learning Center over an incident that occurred in April.
Authorities found that in addition to physical abuse by staff, the facility was negligent in failing to provide accurate information to the family for more than 18 hours.
According to the report, while changing the baby’s diaper, staff “heard and felt a bone breaking in the alleged victim’s right leg.”
The employee said, “I may have put a little too much pressure on myself,” but added that initially, “I was anxious and let my guard down, so I lied to my colleagues.”
When the facility contacted the family, they were told the child had “fallen while trying to stand up.”
According to the DHS memo, the employee told her superiors the truth about what happened during the diaper change an hour after the incident, but no one shared that information with the family until more than 18 hours later.
“This delay resulted in the alleged victim being denied specialized medical care for over 18 hours,” the report states.
The family took the child to the doctor, who discovered he had a fractured right femur.
The baby had to be put under general anesthesia and have a spica cast placed from his chest to his broken leg after the broken bones were put back into place.
According to reports, the doctor who treated the child said that “it takes excessive force to break a child’s femur” and that it “is not something that would happen in normal medical practice.”
“It’s just heartbreaking that this family has to go through this,” said Nicole Karl, whose son attended Stepping Stones daycare.
She said she removed her son from the facility because she had concerns about the way he was being treated.
“When I read the report yesterday I felt sick. If children are that frustrating or you get that worked up and reactive towards children then daycare is not the place for you to work,” Mr Karl said.
This is the second major case of daycare abuse reported by 5 Eyewitness News this week.
In Blaine, two women face multiple felony charges for the abusive punishment and assault of three infants at the Small World Learning Center.
RELATED: Blaine police say daycare worker was ‘aggressively abusive towards child’
“What happened is absolutely horrible,” said Rep. Nolan West, who represents the Blaine area.
West said his daughter was one of the victims in the case.
“I never thought a caregiver would abuse their child,” West said. “It’s ridiculous that this happens, and when you hear stories from so many families across the state, it’s just depressing.”
The Minnesota Department of Human Services told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS it received 304 complaints of abuse related to licensed child care centers last year, and investigations substantiated at least one allegation in 95 of those cases.
West said he plans to push new child care abuse laws in the state legislature that would include tougher penalties for violators.
He also wants all daycare facilities to be required to install video cameras and keep long-term records of the footage.
“Having cameras there allows us to see what’s going on, which is especially important if a child can’t explain what’s going on,” West said.
Stepping Stones’ facilities are equipped with cameras, which were breached during the Homeland Security investigation.
Stepping Stones Early Learning Centre provided 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS with the following statement:
“Stepping Stones Early Learning Centre was aware of a situation where a child in its care may have sustained a fractured bone, and this incident primarily concerned the actions of one employee carer who is no longer employed by Stepping Stones.
“Stepping Stones self-reported this incident to the Minnesota Department of Human Resources (DHS) within 24 hours of learning about it. Since then, Stepping Stones has cooperated fully with the DHS investigation into this matter and will continue to do so.”
Recently, just two days ago, at midnight on July 24, 2024, DHS notified Stepping Stones of the results of its investigation. Specifically, DHS issued a determination of abuse and an order to pay a fine, as well as a corrective order. This was the first notice Stepping Stones had received since self-reporting that DHS had completed its investigation and reached a conclusion.
The proposed penalty was $1,000, and DHS ordered specific corrective measures, including retraining employees on proper hand-washing and diaper-changing procedures. Stepping Stones will fully comply with any required corrective measures as soon as practicable and according to the timeline required by DHS.
“The safety of the children in Stepping Stones’ care has been and always will be our number one priority. Stepping Stones regrets that this incident occurred; however, we self-reported this serious incident to DHS and took appropriate steps to alert them, as well as other prompt corrective steps to address the situation. Stepping Stones firmly believes that this is an entirely isolated incident and in no way reflects Stepping Stones’ values or our commitment to providing the highest level of child care as we have done for nearly 18 years.”
Parents are welcome to contact Stepping Stones to discuss any individual concerns one-to-one.”
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