HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — LaVesha Ingram said she has trusted the KinderCare on Cedar Fork Road in Henrico to care for her son Vee since he was just six months old.
That trust was broken earlier this month when she says someone from Child Protective Services called and told her an employee at her son's school had allegedly assaulted the now two-year-old.
"I'm mad, angry, upset because for one my son can't tell me what is going on and who is doing something to him," Ingram said. "She was popping him, pinching him, popping on his hands, and ain't no telling what else she was doing to my son."
Ingram is one of several parents affected after prosecutors said in court that two coworkers called Child Protective Services to report that KinderCare employee Bethany Davis was allegedly assaulting children at the daycare.
They alleged Davis pinched, flicked and pulled the hair of seven children at the school in March, April and June of this year.
Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor said many of the children were 2 years old.
"This is a scenario where we're not hearing that there was any type of level of behavior of two-year-olds that would warrant the response that Miss Davis did for all of these children," Taylor said.
Davis declined to comment about the charges when approached outside of court.
Henrico Police also charged the director of the daycare, Laressa Jefferson, with failing to report potential abuse two different times.
A spokesperson for KinderCare shared the following statement with CBS 6:
At KinderCare, our highest priority is the safety and well-being of every child in our care. Because her alleged actions were an egregious violation of our policies, we terminated Bethany Davis's employment once we became aware of the allegations against her in mid-June.
We placed our Center Director, Ms. LaRessa, on leave over the weekend. She will remain out of our center, and out of any KinderCare center, as we, and authorities, continue to investigate the concerns involving her knowledge and timing of reporting of this situation.
We remain dedicated to the children in our care and will use this period to strengthen our focus on child safety through extra staff training, policy updates, and increased classroom oversight.
She is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday morning at 9 a.m.
Ingram said she believes the facility should not remain open.
"They need to be closed. And I feel like all of us need to be compensated. This is unacceptable," Ingram said.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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