OWENSBORO, Ky. (WFIE) - An Owensboro daycare is under investigation by state and local law enforcement amid reports of abuse and assault to toddlers.
Officers with the Owensboro Police Department confirm detectives are investigating into the Owensboro Childcare Center.
OPD officials say this comes after the department received a complaint about the daycare from the Kentucky Department of Community Based Services.
Owensboro mother-of-two Kaitlin Watson says she was enraged after social workers informed her they interviewed her toddlers in connection with an ongoing investigation into reports of assault at the daycare.
"I just keep replaying it in my head, 'What were my kids going through what were my kids thinking?'" she asked.
Watson says when she spoke to other parents at the daycare, she realized her children weren't the only ones impacted.
"Kids were like taken by the arm to the bathroom and hit in the butt, hit in the face," she recalled. "When the investigation started, it started because a little girl had been hit in the face so hard, they thought maybe her nose was broken and it was bleeding."
Her 3-year-old daughter was among those who told authorities a worker had struck her across the face and hit her bottom.
Watson's younger child is only 2 years old. She says the toddler is too young to fully detail any abuse she may have encountered.
"If they hit their finger on something, they're going to come to me saying, 'Mommy it hurts kiss it,'" Watson explained. "So just imagining them going through something, and I'm not there to help them or nurture them makes me extremely upset."
The mother has hired a lawyer to pursue civil charges against daycare staff.
Watson's lawyer Joseph Gaines says they're speaking to several other parents who have come forward to share similar accounts.
She says personally 20-30 parents have contacted her via social media with their own stories dating back to 2020.
"Some of the parents that reached out to me, it's been years since they've had their kids there," explained Gaines. "It's just odd authorities haven't shut this down."
He says it seems one staff member in particular was behind the abuse, but several others working at the facility were aware of it.
"It's hard enough to be a parent, let alone to send them to a place that's supposed to be safe, and then you have this partial owner just rampantly abusing children," Gaines said.
14 News has tried calling Owensboro Child Care Center for comment three days this week.
Our crew visited the facility during business hours on Wednesday, but they found the lights off and the playground empty.
"Nobody at the daycare is holding themselves accountable, or anybody else accountable," said Watson. "Literally it's just like a free reign to do whatever you want to children.
Officials with Owensboro Police confirmed an investigation into the childcare center.
Although the daycare did not appear to have anyone there this week, we're working to confirm with state agencies whether this was a forced closure.