ST. LOUIS – A boy bit and scratched a younger boy at a gym's child care center but it's not just the marks on his face that have his parents so upset.
Friday, Doug Ellis was working out at Gold's Gym while his 18-month-old son, Saxton, was playing in the Kids Club within the gym. Doug says gym staff notified him of the attack. He and his wife, Tammi Ellis, learned the boy who bit and scratched their son is the same boy who bit and scratched their son last fall.
Tammi says, after the first incident, gym staff told her the boy would not be allowed to come back to the Kids Club.
"Within a couple of days, we were told that that child was banned from coming back to the daycare," Tammi said.
After the second attack, she reached out to corporate. In an e-mail, a district manager said, "I know what happened the other day, and it's my number 1 priority to resolve."
The e-mail also included a request Tammi was not willing to do.
"In the midst of the e-mail, it was advised that I not speak to other members or the staff about the incident that happened," Tammi said. "I told everybody that I knew. I don't feel that I should have to hide what happened to my son."
Without knowing whether the child who bit her son was banned from the gym for the second time, she and her family canceled their membership.
"We will not be using our 60 days," Tammi said. "We will eat the cost of the membership for the next two months and take our membership elsewhere because I will not expose my kids to that again."
Statement from Gold's Gym
“We are committed to providing a safe environment for children in our Gold’s Gym Kids Club while members work out and do not take this incident lightly. We have reached out directly to this member to discuss what happened, but in fairness to the other family involved, we are not sharing further details.”
Child care services at gyms are not regulated by the state. According to the Missouri Department of Health, daycares that are operated for the convenience of customers or employees for four hours or less every day are not regulated.
