A day care center in Lone Tree with a history of allegations of child abuse and neglect is once again under the microscope over reports of teachers abusing children in their care.
The latest findings by state inspectors come less than a year after Crème de la Crème, 7550 Park Meadows Drive, came off a years-long probationary period. It’s not yet clear what impact the new allegations will have on the day care center’s ability to remain in business.
In May, the Colorado Department of Early Childhood found a staff member hit a child in the back of the head, according to a state inspection report. The state also found teachers had shaken and yelled at children and used “physical discipline” as a form of guidance.
Further inspection by state investigators found a staffer made “inappropriate and derogatory remarks” to a child and made children stand in time-out with their noses to the wall.
The Department of Early Childhood, which did not respond to requests for comment from The Denver Post, compelled the day care center to submit written statements of compliance. Online records don’t show whether the facility has done so yet.
The following month, Lone Tree police responded to the day care center on a report of child abuse. Parents told officers that a teacher hit their child three times on the arm and again on the face because the child wasn’t listening, according to a June 10 police report.
The child “said she cried because it hurt when she was hit,” the report notes.
The parents went to police, authorities said, because they did not feel Crème de la Crème was taking the report seriously. The teacher, the parents said, was “very dismissive, defensive and said that nothing had happened.”
The day care center put that teacheron administrative leave after the parents complained, pending the investigation.
Police ultimately did not make any arrests, turning the investigation over to the Colorado Department of Human Services. The officer noted that police were aware of 44 prior reports to Human Services about Crème de la Crème.
“I have requested again that licensing get involved and do a thorough investigation into the facility,” the officer wrote in the report.
JamieDay Montgomery, a spokesperson for KinderCare, the parent company that owns Crème de la Crème, said the teacher who hit the child in the back of the headhas been fired. The child care center is retraining school staff on proper child supervision.
“Nothing is more important to us than the safety of the children in our care,” Montgomery said.
Crème de la Crème had been on a probationary license with the state for years due to repeated child abuse and neglect allegations, The Post reported last year. The state in November finally issued the center a permanent license.
At least two teachers at the Lone Tree day care center have previously been the subject of police investigations over allegations of injuring children, The Post found. One employee last year pleaded guilty to child abuse charges after yanking a baby by the hair and threatening to choke and stab infants during moments of frustration.
The state in 2022 fined Crème de la Crème $10,000 after finding staff at the Lone Tree center did not report child abuse allegations to authorities for more than 200 days.
A licensing compliance review team last year recommended the department revoke the center’s license to operate, but a state committee ultimately agreed to keep Crème de la Crème on probation.
The parents of one child who attended the day care sued Crème de la Crème last year, alleging negligence. A Douglas County judge stayed the case, compelling arbitration.
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Originally Published: August 23, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.
