FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Three staff members of a Framingham daycare were fired Friday after one of them allegedly hung a toddler from a door knob by the back of his shirt while the others recorded it.
A 20-month-old was allegedly put in danger at the Kindercare in Framingham. The little boy was allegedly taken by a teacher and hung by his own shirt over an outside door near the school's playground.
Framingham police say two other teachers not only didn't try to intervene, but captured it on camera.
Dave Guthro lives a few doors down from Kindercare and says as he's passed by the school a million times, and has never noticed anything inappropriate going on behind this fence.
"The kids all seem happy. They're all running around," he said.
The alleged incident happened last Friday, but police were notified Tuesday and that's when they began investigating and got the state involved. Kindercare is also conducting their own internal investigation.
The school released a statement Thursday that read, in part: "We are aware of a situation that occurred on the playground of our Framingham center last Friday, October 10, involving a child and some of our center staff. What occurred was completely inappropriate and out of line with the standard of care we provide to families and the children entrusted to our care every day."
Their corporate spokesperson told FOX 25 that the staff members have been suspended, and say the school's actions were swift upon hearing of the allegations. They also say the staff members all had clean background checks before they were hired, and it's not clear what kind of explanation the teachers offered, if any, for their behavior.
Jane Strait is a pre-school teacher at a different nursery school in neighboring Sudbury and thinks they should attend counseling.
"But I also think maybe they should have some counseling you know? I mean there's gotta be something wrong with somebody that does this to a 20-month-old," she said.
When asked about disciplining the children at her school, Strait said, "No we don't discipline, we talk to them, we're just loving teachers."
The three staff members were fired Friday.
The daycare released the following statement Friday, which read in part, "Today we have dismissed three employees from our Framingham KinderCare for their involvement in the October 10th incident on the playground."
The statement went on to say, "What occurred was completely inappropriate and out of line with the standard of care we provide to families and the children entrusted to our care every day."
Cox Media Group
