AVON LAKE, Ohio (WJW) – The FOX 8 I-Team has uncovered new fallout from abuse of a child caught on camera in an Avon Lake day care.
We’ve learned of a lawsuit filed, action taken by the state and more.
It all adds up to more trouble for the Sweet Kiddles Child Care Center where a toddler suffered a broken leg and a worker got hit with charges.
Parents of three children have now filed suit against Sweet Kiddles, and the state is reducing the day care’s quality rating.
Investigators say, back in September, a worker picked up a child by the arm, swung him out of the way, then dropped him. That caused his right leg to break.
Now, that child’s parents have sued along with the parents of two other kids from that day care.
Marco Bocciarelli, attorney with Friedman, Domiano and Smith, said, “There was someone in the room and did nothing.”
His lawsuit calls Sweet Kiddles “negligent in that they failed to properly hire, train and supervise” employees.
In September, the mother and father of the child with the broken leg spoke to the I-Team.
Nadine Porcelli said, “Like, she just dropped him. Throws him, lets be real on that.”
James Tabor said, “I mean, it’s just any parent’s worst nightmare. You’re helpless watching from the tape.”
Other parents claim their son was, “kicked, knocking him over” and other parents say their son “may have been the recipient of violent behavior.”
Attorney Bocciarelli added, “This was not an isolated event, as was reported to the parents. These infants are the saddest kinds of victims because they can’t speak for themselves.”
Sweet Kiddles worker Emily Coghlan has been hit with criminal charges for the child with the broken leg. Sweet Kiddles fired her.
Yet, weeks later, Avon Lake police say they’ve still been investigating and checking for any other incidents.
This also led a state agency to take another look at that child care center. Go online and you see Sweet Kiddles has a four-star rating on a scale up to five, but the state tells us that rating is being knocked down one notch.
The worker who got fired can’t work in child care for ten years.
We contacted the attorney for Sweet Kiddles. Anne Markowski sent an email, telling us “our office does not comment on pending cases and neither my office nor my clients have any comment at this time.“
Earlier, Sweet Kiddles called this an “isolated incident.” Now, the lawsuit says, maybe not.
Since the lawsuit has just been filed, we could wait weeks or longer for the response from Sweet Kiddles to be filed in court.
Police also have said they plan to take the criminal case to a grand jury, which could lead to more charges.