An Austin father’s routine check-in on a daycare livestream turned into a horrifying experience.
A Texas father witnessed a daycare worker at The Children's Courtyard smothering and slapping his two-year-old son via a livestream, leading to a $1 million lawsuit against the facility.
According to Daily Mail, the distressing incident occurred on July 27, 2023, when the father logged into The Children's Courtyard’s livestream to check on his son’s well-being. He was shocked to see a daycare employee smothering his child during nap time. Worse still, the employee followed this by repetitively hitting the boy in the face and head when he did not sleep as expected.
The father immediately rushed to the daycare in Austin to confront the staff about the distressing scene he had just seen. However, upon his arrival, the facility did not report the abuse to state officials or law enforcement, raising further concerns about their handling of the situation.
The daycare informed the parents that the employee responsible would be suspended for just one day. This lackluster response prompted the boy's mother, Alexis Dominguez, to file a $1 million lawsuit against The Children's Courtyard for her son's injuries.
In the video, their son can be seen trying to shield himself from the abuse with his hands and rocking back and forth with each blow he received. Dominguez and her partner promptly removed their son from the daycare and alerted state authorities about the incident.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission Child-Care Licensing Division and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services launched investigations into the allegations against the daycare. The Children's Courtyard facility was cited for five violations, including child abuse and not reporting the abuse as required by law.
It’s important to note that The Children's Courtyard has a troubling history of safety violations. Since 2019, the daycare chain has been cited 70 times for various infractions. The history of negligence dates back to 2017 when an employee at another location in Plano, Texas, was caught on video violently handling an 18-month-old child.
Despite these alarming violations, The Children's Courtyard's current spokesperson emphasized that “health and safety” remained their “highest priority,” and they had terminated the involved employees from the recent incident.
Lawyer Russell Button, representing Dominguez, pointed out that the distressing event is not an isolated incident and criticized the daycare for consistently failing in its duty of care. Button remarked, “The serious safety issues at The Children's Courtyard are full of alarm bells and red flags.” He argued that the daycare’s history and the treatment of the Dominguez child demonstrated a clear lack of prioritizing child safety.
Regarding the incident, Alexis Dominguez expressed her outrage, stating, “Clearly, The Children's Courtyard did not value my son's safety or express concern for his well-being.” Her attorney further described the mistreatment as actions that “anyone with basic common sense” would find “completely unacceptable.”
The Austin Police Department has no record of a report regarding the incident, adding another layer of concern about the daycare’s handling of such severe misconduct. The legal battle is now set to unfold as Dominguez seeks justice and ensures heightened safety for other children still under the daycare’s care.
In summary, a Texas father’s discovery via a daycare livestream has led to a $1 million lawsuit against The Children’s Courtyard in Austin. The incident highlights recurring safety failures at the daycare chain, posing serious questions about their commitment to child protection.
