Parents sue daycare over abuse allegations

For more than a year, it was the place the Day family of Ballwin trusted to help take care of their daughter.

“They had similar values as us, so it seemed like a great place for us to be,” said Joseph Day.

But the family says that back in March, Zion Lutheran Learning Center in Valley Park violated their trust in an alarming way.

Day said, “It was extraordinarily shocking to me to think the only solution he could think of to get her to behave was to tie her up.”

In a lawsuit filed recently in St. Louis County Circuit Court, the Days allege that a teacher at the daycare hogtied the girl, 4, with duct tape around her ankles because she refused to take a nap.

“The only reason we knew was because she started using the words duct tape. It’s not a word familiar to her vocabulary,” Day said.

Alarmed, he added that his wife began to press their daughter for more information. He said what the girl explained next was horrifying.

“That’s when she said he tied my feet up and I tried to walk, but fell over and the class laughed at me,” Day said.

The couple said they immediately brought this to the attention of school administrators, but were only taken aback even more.

Day said the school admitted to the incident and added that it had actually happened two weeks before. Day said the family never received any notification.

“It’s shocking. It’s frustrating. You’re just in disbelief that they (the administrators) could fail you as well,” he said.

Now the couple is suing the daycare and several of its employees, including the teacher involved.

According to Clayton-based attorney Jeremy Hollingshead, the facility demonstrated a complete failure of care on all levels.

“Whether they knew something before that could’ve protected the Days’ child, they definitely know now and they still continue to employ him,” he said.

Hollingshead added that this case should be a wake-up call to all parents who rely on outside childcare.

He said this incident proves that there are few options for recourse when abuse happens at daycare, and often it’s up to the facility itself to take corrective action.

“There are no remedies for the state. I believe they can step in and fine the day care, but they don’t make disciplinary choices for the school,” Hollingshead explained.

Zion Lutheran Learning Center issued the following statement to Five on Your Side:

“Zion Lutheran Preschool has provided an affordable Christ-centered daycare option for parents for the last 43 years. As a school, we provide a caring and nurturing environment where students are encouraged to grow and develop their God-given gifts. Student safety and care is a top priority for our school. When a disciplinary incident occurs, we attempt to handle it with care, concern and in a Christ-centered manner. Recently, we have dealt with an inappropriate disciplinary response, used once, by one of our teachers this school year.

A teacher, covering a class for the normally assigned teacher, put duct tape over a child’s pants at her ankles holding the child’s legs together as discipline for running around during nap time. The teacher realized the error and immediately removed the tape. This was an inappropriate classroom management response. The teacher was disciplined by the school’s administrator in accordance with the school’s personnel policies and procedures.

Following this incident, the school’s Board of Education mandated that the teacher undergo professional re-training in handling disruptive children. The teacher did successfully complete the re-training.

In addition, the incident was self-reported by the school to the Child Abuse Hotline, the State Licensing Agency and the St. Louis County Police. All agencies found no need to further investigate the situation and were comfortable with the school’s response.

In addition, DFS concluded that there was no abuse and therefore, no further investigation was needed.