Anna’s Early Beginnings Child Care and Learning Center, 5833 Shull Road, still has a gold Step Up to Quality rating from the Ohio Department of Children and Youth following state inspections after the police investigation began.
“I felt like we had failed our child by putting him in day care,” said the father of a 5-month-old boy allegedly “tossed” into a crib, causing him to vomit several times, with blood mixing in.
“We were in shock. We didn’t think anyone was capable of doing something so terrible to a little baby,” said the child’s mother, who this news outlet agreed not to identify to protect the baby’s identity.
The boy’s father said what galls him is that after seeing concerning reports on Facebook, before learning their son was a victim, they spoke to the center director. She told them the allegations were false and that they passed state inspections despite allegedly knowing there was an unreported abuse accusation involving their son.
Before their child was allegedly injured on July 30, police had already started an investigation into another allegation of abuse at the center.
The parents pulled their little boy out of care at the center in mid-October after news of a police investigation came to light. Less than two weeks later, a detective investigating the infant injuries informed the child’s parents that a staff member reported witnessing their child being mistreated.
State inspections, criminal charges
State records say the Early Beginnings had two state inspections in the months since the Huber Heights Police Division started investigating the center for multiple infants getting injured — two requiring surgery.
An inspection in October in response to a complaint asked the center to address a determination a staff member used “cruel, harsh, unusual, or extreme techniques.” State records say the center was directed to provide training and submit a corrective action plan, which has not been done.
An inspection in February identified no serious issues, but three noncompliances related to staff education and record keeping.
After both inspections, state inspectors found the center “partially compliant” with state rules and allowed to maintain its top rating.
The February inspection came weeks after Jessica Nicole Matthews, 47, of Huber Heights, was charged with endangering children in Montgomery County Municipal Court - Eastern Division. She pleaded not guilty during her Feb. 4 arraignment and is next scheduled to appear March 27 for a pretrial hearing.
“This matter was reviewed with the Huber Heights Police Division. After review of the investigation, it was determined that there was not enough evidence at that time to approve and charge any felony crime,” the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement to this news outlet.
“As in any case, if additional information or evidence becomes available, the detectives would then submit that to our office for further review.”
Matthews' attorney did not return a request for comment.
Police investigation
The Dayton Daily News obtained more than 50 pages of records of the Huber Heights police investigation of the center using Ohio public records laws.
Those records say Huber Heights police opened an investigation after they were notified July 17 that an 11-week-old boy was taken by Troy medics to Dayton Children’s Hospital, where he was found to have a brain bleed in addition to blood in his urine, vomiting and bruising on his arms.
The child’s mother reported there was nothing suspicious before she took him to the day care. He was in care there four days. On July 15, she noted that he was lethargic and not acting normal, but she thought he had a virus. The next day she contacted a medical office, but because he did not have a fever, she was told to not bring him in, according to the report.
During the ongoing investigation into the Troy child’s case, Huber Heights police were alerted to a second infant with head injuries who attended the same day care center.
A routine checkup at the end of July at a pediatrician’s office revealed a 6-month-old Tipp City girl had an enlarged head. After a scheduled ultrasound showed fluid on the brain, the infant was referred Aug. 15 to the Dayton Children’s ER for a CT scan, which found two brain bleeds that were considered suspicious, the police report stated.
Both infants required surgical treatment and hospital stays. There are no criminal charges connected to either of these incidents, though one of the families has sued the center, Matthews and other unnamed Early Beginnings staff. The company has not responded to the lawsuit in court, but issued a statement pledging transparency and “upholding the highest standards of care and safety.”
Complaints, concerns
One employee’s name came up over and over when investigators interviewed current and former Early Beginnings staff. However, the now-former director of the center told police the first two times they spoke that she was unaware of any problems with that staff member, Matthews.
According to the police report, employees said Matthews was “rough” with toddlers and would raise her voice and grab their arms while seated. They also said she often appeared agitated or negative toward the infants. They described her picking up infants too roughly, sometimes grabbing them by the shoulders and yanking them out of cribs or saying “unprofessional things” when frustrated by infants who would not stop crying, the report stated.
A former employee said she brought this up to the director multiple times. There was no discipline nor any notations in Matthews’ personnel file of any conversations or complaints received.
The investigation also uncovered a troubled employment history for Matthews, who passed the required criminal background checks.
Although Matthews told police she had 13 years of day care experience, plus had worked with special-needs adults, she did not list any prior employers on her application. She denied being fired from a prior day care, but a detective determined she was fired under negative terms, the report stated.
During the investigation, a staff member reported to police that she saw Matthews cause an injury to a child and that she reported it to the center director but that nothing happened.
A state licensing inspector on Oct. 25 told police that if this was found to be true, that the day care would be marked for a violation, “however, they wouldn’t be shut down,” the police report stated.
July 30 incident
The employee said she was assisting other teachers with restroom breaks and was in the infant room July 30 when Matthews’ co-teacher took a short break.
The worker said she saw Matthews changing a crying boy’s diaper at a changing table. She began to read a chart and as she looked up, she said Matthews “tossed” the 5-month-old boy into his crib. The baby vomited and cried. He threw up at least twice more, with blood mixed in the last time, the report stated.
The other infant caregiver returned by the time the baby threw up the second time, telling police that at the mention of the word blood, Matthews immediately said, “I didn’t do anything.”
The assisting employee told another staff member and then reported it to the director, who asked her to write a statement, which she said she did.
The director later asked Matthews to do a report, but the lead teacher, who was not in the room at the time of the incident, did it for her, noting a “scrape/scratch/mouth/teeth” injury that did not document vomiting. She told police she wrote that the baby was scratching at his mouth while sucking on his pacifier, causing him to cut his lip because she believed that is what happened. She also said she completed the report because if Matthews didn’t want to do something, she wouldn’t.
The employee who witnessed the incident and another staff member corroborated that the director was made aware and that a statement was written.
Director ‘aware’ of allegation
In Ohio, day care employees are mandated reporters, meaning they are legally required to report suspected child abuse or endangerment. No one has been charged with failing to report in connection to the investigation at Early Beginnings.
A DCY investigator said there was no notification to the state or children services about the July 30 incident.
Also, the statement was not in Matthews’ personnel file or the infant’s file and would have been included in documents they were ordered to turn over in relation to a search order signed by a judge.
“(The director) was aware of an allegation of an employee tossed an infant into their crib, the infant immediately began to vomit, one time even having blood in his vomit, and there was no documentation at all of this in Jessica or (the infant’s) file from either the Huber center or the central office,” the report stated.
The director said the original written statement was likely somewhere in her office but she did not know where. She told police during an earlier interview that she did not believe the incident was that bad and that the employee was “overdramatic.”
Company responds
A regional director for Early Beginnings told police that had she been aware of the incidents at the time that Matthews would have been fired immediately, and that steps had already been taken to make sure something like this did not happen again. Messages seeking comment and information about the specific procedures implemented were left with the corporate office.
The parents of the Troy infant filed a lawsuit last week in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court against Early Beginnings, Matthews and other current or former employees. Early Beginnings issued a statement in response to media inquiries.
“The safety, wellbeing, and development of the children in our care remain our highest priorities,” the statement says.
“We understand that this situation may raise concerns, and we remain committed to transparency and maintaining the trust of our families. While we are unable to provide further details due to the ongoing legal process, we want to emphasize our dedication to upholding the highest standards of care and safety.”
The statement says the company can’t comment on personnel matters “due to privacy concerns.”
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