Videos of childcare workers mishandling toddlers have emerged in the U.S prompting an Australian father to remove his two-year-old who was one of the mistreated children.
Speaking to news.com.au U.S based Brett Stenhouse said he was “absolutely furious” and the treatment of his child was “disgusting and disgraceful.”
“It’s heartbreaking, you put so much trust in these places to look after your child, you pay so much money to get care and to help them start to learn, for that trust to be battered the way it was is deplorable,” Stenhouse said.
The videos showing childcare workers – at Apple Montessori School in Hoboken, New Jersey – roughing up children who appear physically distressed in the aftermath were filmed by a neighbour in a high-rise apartment in May but didn’t surface online until June.
The neighbour had allegedly sent the videos to the Montessori’s directors who responded with a cease and desist letter.
When Stenhouse saw the footage he and his wife didn’t stop until they found the resident who filmed the mistreatment.
“We had to do quite a bit of digging to find her but we spoke with her, we were given fairly disturbing information, she had been watching what had happened for a number of days before she pulled out her phone,” said Stenhouse.
“She had seen a number of things that made her feel uncomfortable, she was planning on sending her own child there.”
Stenhouse and his wife had received a call and an email from the childcare when the footage emerged online, claiming they had since fired the teacher in the footage.
However, they did not disclose they had been aware of the footage weeks prior.
“We were absolutely deceived … (they said) there was nothing to be concerned about,” said Stenhouse.
“They absolutely knew the facts at that point and they made a conscious decision to lie to us, they chose not to act against the teacher at that point. It was just completely unconscionable.
Stenhouse has since taken his little girl out of Apple Montessori School and and five employees have been fired over the footage.
This includes the director, assistant director and workers in the videos.
