Four toddler boys broke their legs on the same day and at the same Florida daycare center, according to police. An amended discovery was filed on Friday morning which provided additional details on what may have happened.
Panama City News Herald reports that all four boys were healthy and had no issues walking when their loved ones dropped them off at the Kids Discovery Learning Center in Valparaiso on May 21. Yet, according to an arrest report, all of the toddlers were having issues standing and walking when their parents picked them up.
“Upon returning to pick them up in the afternoon, the children were showing signs of distress and could not stand or walk,” the arrest report read. “The children were medically evaluated and each was diagnosed with fractures to their legs.”
The children at the time were assigned to the “1-year-old” classroom of daycare assistant, Christina Marie Curtis, 25. Authorities began investigating the incident and obtained video footage that allegedly showed Curtis acting in a negligent manner with the children, including jerking an 18-month-old into the air, then dropping him feet-first into a wagon.
“The defendant stopped and quickly moved her hands to (his) upper arms and rapidly jerked him into the air,” the report said. “When (he) was picked up, his feet and legs were in the air and was dropped feet first into a wagon. Other children were placed in the wagon and it was pulled outside.”
When the toddler woke up from a nap, Curtis tried to get him to stand, according to police, but he couldn’t.
Another child sustained a leg fracture “shortly after the defendant began working in the class,” the arrest report read, while a different boy supposedly “fell over another child.”
Curtis denied purposely harming the children and claimed she didn’t understand how serious their injuries were. The woman reportedly claimed the injuries could have happened to the children at their home or while on the playground, according to ABC3.
On July 20, Curtis was arrested and charged with four felony counts of child neglect with great bodily harm, according to Okaloosa County court records. A month later, she pleaded not guilty. Her trial is scheduled for October 28.
Curtis has since made bond and was released from jail while awaiting trial. She’s been banned from having unsupervised contact with any children and she cannot obtain employment from any schools or daycare centers.
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[Feature Photo: Pixabay]
