It was nap time, but this toddler didn’t want that. So, caregiver forced him down, cutting his head, cops say
When a toddler wouldn’t stop playing with his toys and take a nap, his caregiver at Learning City Academy forced him down and cut his eye, police said.
Gladys LaRosa, 59, was working as a caregiver at the Learning City Academy, 7336 W. Atlantic Blvd., in Margate when the incident happened a year ago, according to a Margate police report.
It was around 1:00 p.m. on May 3, 2018, and nap time at the academy had already been in effect for 30 minutes, but a 18-month toddler was making noise and playing with toys.
LaRosa told police she decided to “get him and turn him over and tell him to go to sleep so that other kids wouldn’t wake up.”
The toddler didn’t want to lie down, so that’s when LaRosa forcibly picked him up and placed him face down first, police said. He hit his head on the plastic part of the cot.
Police said he suffered a laceration to his face, tearing off so much skin there wasn’t enough for the wound to be stitched closed.
The daycare director told police that LaRosa told her at 3:35 p.m., which is an hour after nap time ended, that there was something wrong with the toddler.
LaRosa told the director that she was patting the toddler on the back to sooth him to sleep and he hit his head on the cot, police said.
When the director checked surveillance video to see what happen she saw the boy still up and not sleeping. LaRosa walked over to him and appeared irritated. She then saw LaRosa make a pushing motion to the baby and not the patting she claimed, police said.
Once LaRosa pushed the boy onto the cot he did not get back up, the director told police. At 2:30 p.m., LaRosa was changing his diapers and noticed the injury. She cleaned the wound with water and paper towels. Then, she went into the boy’s cubby and took the sheets.
She sprayed it with bleach and tried to clean it in the sink, police said. She didn’t try to call or get help during this time.
The report is unclear as to why LaRosa was arrested more than a year after the incident.
LaRosa was charged with aggravated child abuse.
This story was originally published August 4, 2019 at 7:00 AM.
%20Cropped%20(2).jpg)