Austin mother sues daycare for child abuse caught on livestream

The children’s yard ignored Texas Daycare laws are meant to protect young children, lawsuit filed by Button law firm says

AUSTIN, Texas, July 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Alexis Dominguez, the mother of a 2-year-old boy, is suing The Children’s Courtyard, located on West William Cannon Drive, claiming that Austin The daycare used prohibited and cruel punishment methods on her child. The complaint states that July 2023The child’s father monitored the child during the workday through the daycare’s live surveillance video and was shocked to see a caregiver trying to silence the child during naptime by smothering him with a blanket. The father also saw the caregiver violently slap the child’s face and head multiple times, the lawsuit alleges.

After witnessing the child’s abuse, the child’s father immediately left work and reported what he had seen to daycare management. However, the daycare failed to report the incident to state or local police as required by law, according to the complaint. The suit also alleges that the daycare suspended the accused employee for a single day and then kept her on staff, despite clear visual evidence corroborating the parents’ allegations of abuse.

“It is clear that Children’s Courtyard did not value my son’s safety or show any concern for his well-being,” Dominguez said. “Anyone with a modicum of common sense understands that choking and hitting a child is completely unacceptable. It was all caught on camera.”

Dominguez has since removed his son from juvenile court.

An independent investigation into the incident with Dominguez’s son found that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s Child Care Licensing Division and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services confirmed the allegations and cited The Children’s Courtyard for five violations, including physical abuse of a child, use of prohibited punishment tactics, allowing a person who posed a risk to a child’s safety to remain with the children for an additional period of time and failure to report the incident. A further analysis of the daycare’s records revealed that the daycare had received 56 separate safety violations from June 2019 through May 202410 months after the abuse suffered by Dominguez’s son.

‘The serious safety issues at Children’s Courtyard are full of alarm bells and red flags,’ says Dominguez daycare injury attorney Russell Button of Button Law Firm. “It is clear that this daycare is not prioritizing child safety, given the treatment of our client’s child and the history of this daycare. Allegations of abuse in any daycare should be taken seriously and daycares should employ individuals who follow clear procedures required by law to protect the children in their care.”

The case is Alexis DominguezIndividually and as a relative and close friend of LD, a minor child, against WOS, Inc. d/b/a The Children’s Courtyard, Inc., Case No. D-1-GN24-004072 before the 53rd Civil District Court of Travis County, TexasA copy of the complaint can be viewed here.

About Button Law Firm
Button Law Firm (buttonlawfirm.com) is a TexasNew Haven-based personal injury law firm that defends children and their families in important litigation to make local communities safer. The firm focuses on child care and child-related injuries, such as abuse and neglect, bottle warmer burns, traumatic brain injuries, and catastrophic injuries. With attorneys in Dallas, HoustonAnd MidlandThe Button Law Firm helps families move forward throughout the Lone Star State.

SOURCE Button Law Firm