DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — When a mom noticed what appeared to be injuries on the right side of her 3-year-old son's face as she picked him up from a DeKalb County daycare last month, she asked the employee what had happened.
They were "mosquito bites," she was told. A registered nurse, the mom knew the marks on her son were not bug bites - and a previous incident in which he had said he'd been "popped in the head" at the daycare suddenly took on a new light, as well.
That's all according to a police report that initiated a child abuse investigation into the Appletree Learning Center and Academy, where three employees were arrested earlier this month.
The incident report indicates the mom, after being given the "mosquito bites" explanation, asked to speak with the director of the daycare to file a report.
The report indicates the mom had been told by her son he'd been "popped in the head" a few days earlier, but she did not put too much stock into it because he didn't have any visible injuries.
But the son "wouldn't stop mentioning the incident all weekend" and stated "many times" that one of the employees hit him. So after the weekend, she set up a meeting with the owner of the daycare center, the report states, and "stated that an investigation was completed but she felt as though it wasn't properly handled."
She sent her child back to the daycare, and two days later the injuries on his face appeared - which she told police she felt "may have been retaliation" for him bringing up the earlier "popped in the head" claim.
According to the report, the director first also told police the child could have gotten a mosquito bite during outside play time, and also "included that children are allowed to crawl around inside the facility where he may have suffered a carpet burn."
Pressed about what the injuries looked like, however, the director "responded that it may be a bruise."
After that, police contacted the owner, who said the investigation of the "popped in the head" claim "found no substantial evidence that proved possible mistreatment."
The owner instead suggested it might have been a result of the child referring to a "physical head count of the children where the employees count the children by touching their heads."
The owner said the teacher the boy accused of hitting him had not been working at the facility the day of the incident - and said both she and the mother "concluded the investigation as a misunderstanding."
A few weeks later, three women were arrested on charges including cruelty to children in the first degree and failing to report child abuse.
Officers are still asking any parents that feel their child might have been a victim or have any information that may help their investigation to contact the DeKalb County Special Victim's Unit at 770-724-7710.
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