A 23-year-old daycare teacher, Caci Renee Burke, in Bradenton, Florida was fired after being arrested when one of her students sustained “more than a dozen bite marks on his body,” according to the WWSB My Suncoast .
When Amanda Beebe received a phone call from J’s Bright Learners daycare center about her 18-month-old son being bitten by another student and needed to be picked up, she stated that she wasn’t at all startled or “upset as this sort of thing happens often with children.”
However, after arriving at the daycare and seeing the countless bite marks on her “inconsolable” son’s face, arm, leg, and back, she became furious.
Beebe rushed her son to the Manatee Memorial Hospital, who notified the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office about the incident.
“I got ahold of my husband and told him it looked like he was mauled by a dog,” Beebe said.
An employee at a day care in Oneco could face child neglect charges. https://t.co/D0KsTa4XU0 #Florida
— The Sun News (@TheSunNews) September 8, 2016
Doctors later informed the mother of two that it appeared her son had been bitten by another small child.
The toddler’s injuries were not severe, and he was released the same day.
Beebe stated that “if this was my doing; if I neglected my child like that I would be arrested on site.”
She now wants justice after what happened to her son.
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation and arrested Burke Wednesday, September 7, on charges of child neglect without great bodily harm.
It was reported that the surveillance footage at the Bradenton daycare captured the horrifying moment the toddler was bitten by another child.
18-month-old bitten over a dozen times at daycare https://t.co/vwGhzXC7NJ pic.twitter.com/BRXeDASBNt
— Emirates 24|7 (@Emirates247) September 8, 2016
Beebe demanded staff to allow her to view the footage and said, “I didn’t get to actually see the attack because the way the lady had the camera set up in the room, it was zoomed in on just one part of the room.”
In the video, the toddler could be seen coming in and out of the camera view, but at one point, he disappears then comes back into view, crying hysterically.
“At that point, I was like where is someone to come rescue or comfort my son?” Beebe said.
“They couldn’t give me an explanation.”
“I’m just grateful it’s not worse,” Beebe said.” I’m trying to look at the bright side.”
It appears that during the time of the incident, teachers and other staff members were not monitoring the children.
The fuming mother turned to Facebook, posting her thoughts on the incident.
“As a mother, you hear about these daycare horror stories and pray it never happens to your children! I feel angry and sad but mostly I want justice for my son!! Please pray that we get justice for this and that it never happens again.”
After Beebe shared her daycare horror story and shared pictures of her son’s bite marks via Facebook, it was shared over a million times and received nearly 50,000 comments, according to Fox 13 News .
“This was an act of pure negligence,” Beebe’s post continued. “Also my son is doing fine. He was prescribed antibiotics, and the bruises are already starting to disappear. We are trying to stay positive through all of this and mainly get awareness out of that as this is unacceptable.”
#ChildNeglect arrest, Caci Renee Burke, case of toddler bitten by child at J’s Bright Learners @ManateeSheriff #wtsp pic.twitter.com/ONE48PiQV4
— Isabel Mascareñas (@IMascarenas) September 8, 2016
Following the tragic incident, the Department of Children and Families released a statement Thursday on their website, which stated as follows: “What happened to this child is absolutely unacceptable.”
“We are conducting a child care licensing investigation jointly with the child protection investigation division of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. The employee responsible for caring for the child at the time this incident took place is no longer with the facility.”
Reporters made several attempts to contact the Bradenton daycare center, but they allegedly hung up, refusing to give a statement.
The Bradenton daycare teacher has since been released from the county jail after posting bail.
The investigation is still ongoing.
[Image via iStock Photo]
