Mother Brings Lawsuit After Daughter Abused At Daycare

Posted on Feb 24, 2014

As reported by pennlive.com’s Matt Miller on February 21, 2014, a Harrisburg-area mother who claims her pre-school daughter was sexually abused by another child filed a lawsuit Friday against one of the nation’s largest for-profit child care and early education providers.

In the complaint lodged in Philadelphia County Court, the mother contends that her daughter, who is now 6, would not have suffered the alleged harm had workers at a Kindercare Learning Center in Lower Paxton Township been properly supervising the children in May 2012.

PennLive is withholding the names of the mother and daughter because it does not identify victims or alleged victims of sexual assaults. The daughter was 4 years old when the abuse supposedly occurred.

An attempt to obtain comment from corporate officials of West Coast-based Kindercare regarding the suit was not immediately successful. The firm operates childhood education centers in 39 states and Washington, D.C.

The mother’s lawyer, Scott B. Cooper, said the suit was filed after Kindercare officials refused to negotiate an out-of-court resolution of the dispute. “They wouldn’t accept responsibility,” Cooper said.

In the suit, the mother claims that her daughter was left alone with another girl of a similar age who abused her child even though the other girl had “demonstrated a propensity for suggestive and sexual behavior” while at the Kindercare center.

Another incident of a “sexual nature” had occurred involving the girls days before the incident on which the lawsuit is based, the mom contends. She says she told the local center’s director about the first incident and was assured steps would be taken to prevent a recurrence.

Three days later, the second abuse incident occurred when her daughter and the other girl were left unsupervised in a “cubby room” for several minutes, according to the suit.

This story has been corrected to reflect that the mother’s daughter was 4 years old at the time of the supposed abuse. Due to a typographical error, the girl’s birth date was listed incorrectly in the lawsuit.

When your loved one is in need of a Pennsylvania daycare or Pennsylvania nursing home, you need to do your homework. You can see citations the home you are considering has received in the past, on the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s website. You can find a link to the site on Schmidt Kramer’s website.

If you believe that you or a loved one have been injured by sub-standard care at a Harrisburg daycare or Central Pa nursing home, call an injury lawyer and Pennsylvania nursing home lawyer at Schmidt Kramer. Call us at (717) 888-8888 if you are local to Harrisburg, or call us toll-free at (717) 888-8888.

You may also want to download one of the free publications or our newsletter we offer on our website.

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Central Pa. Mother Brings Lawsuit After Daughter Abused At Daycare