Photo: Fox 10
An Arizona couple is demanding answers after their 1-year-old daughter was covered in bite marks following a day at a local daycare center.
Rocio Enriqueztold ABC affiliate KNXVthat she and her husband Rylee Umsted went to pick up their young daughter Mila from Sunrise Preschools in Maricopa and were shocked to find the little girl back’s covered in deep, red bite marks.
“She was shaking and I knew she didn’t want to be there,” Umstead told the station. Enriquezadded to Fox 10: “You cannot justify eight bites. Maybe one. But eight?”
Enriquez said daycare staff told the couple what happened when they picked the little girl up, but Umstead said staff members should have prevented the incident from happening in the first place.
“This is not meant to excuse the incident but to explain what happened. We can and will do better and this unfortunate matter has provided some hard learned lessons,” the statement continues. “This incident was heartbreaking and unacceptable and we are working diligently to ensure it does not happen again.”
Officials added that Mila was given first aid and the child who bit her has been expelled, noting that “while there is established protocol to address occasional biting behavior common to many toddlers, the severity of the incident demanded a more appropriate response.”
Lashawna Goulburne, the mother of the 2-year-old boy who bit Mila, told KNXV that she was not notified when the incident happened, and now she’s looking for a new daycare.
“He’s not at fault here,” Goulbourne said of her son. “He’s 2, and we pay — not only me but the other family — we pay for our children to be protected and be monitored and safe.”
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Enriquez and Umsted said they are asking to see surveillance video of the footage and calling for changes at the facility.
“We don’t know what to think because we don’t know the true answer,” Umsted told KNXV. “But there’s a video out there that tells the truth. Sunrise should’ve either had two teachers in that room or they need different training.”
The Maricopa Police Department tell PEOPLE they are investigating the incident.
source: people.com
