An 11-month-old child was abused at Step-By-Step Child Care on Ashland Road in Mansfield, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Office.
The baby girl is suffering from a fractured skull, brain bleed and a fractured arm. Her mother, Brooklyn Pierce, said the baby's arm is now in a cast. The family's attorney, John Rinehardt, said the baby will undergo more brain scans on Friday.
She is currently in fair condition at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus.
A police report stated that authorities received a report of child endangering at the day care on Aug. 2. After further information was revealed, the Major Crimes Unit was asked to investigate.
In a 911 call, Pierce reported that it looked like her daughter was “tossed” by a woman at the day care. She said she saw the surveillance video of what happened at the facility. She then told the dispatcher, “There’s no way she could’ve just been dropped. She was at least 2-3 feet away from the lady.”
She also told authorities the day care gave her an incident report that said the child fell forward, but Pierce said “the whole thing is a lie. Nothing actually happened on the incident report was true.”
Pierce said she tried to obtain a copy of the video from the day care, but is still waiting to hear back from the owner. Attorney Rinehardt has sent a letter to preserve the video. Authorities told us they do not yet have a copy. Rinehardt also said the mother was told the 19-year-old worker involved has been terminated.
The day care told reporter Home Bash they had no comment.
Inspection records for Step By Step Childcare by the Department of Jobs and Family Services show several serious violations over the years, ranging from workers not being properly trained to the daycare not having verification for their education. The last inspection in March also noted the daycare "out of compliance" for the child to caretaker ratio, with one case showing one adult for 31 kids.
