Two day care employees in North Carolina were fired for strapping shoes to a little girl with tightly bound tape, causing her bruises and swelling, according to reports.
The terminations at Pleasant Hill Day Care in Elkin come after a mother picked up her 17-month-old daughter and saw her shoes were taped on, news station WXII reported.
Jessica Hayes took to social media Saturday following the disturbing incident, which she said left her daughter crying and in pain. The mother said the shoes were “left on long enough and tight enough to leave marks, cause swelling, and bruises.”
“Someone was clearly upset that she was learning take her shoes off and done it out of being aggravated,” Hayes posted on Facebook. “This was also not just her shoes being taped up it was around her ankle … My 17-month-old child was unable to say anything”
Pleasant Hill director Maehsell Marley said security footage was reviewed and the two employees involved were let go from the center.
“Pleasant Hill Day Care in no way condones or allows any practice that would be harmful to a child,” Marley told the news station. “We have an outstanding group of caregivers who strive to meet the highest of expectations on a daily basis for the children in our care, and what occurred in the shoe-taping incident is not a representation of who we are.”