Daycare Workers and Sexual Abuse

Daycare Workers and Sexual Abuse

Most daycare centers provide a safe, wholesome environment for the children of working parents. However, some children have become the victims of sexual abuse by daycare owners or employees. According to our in-house database at The Doan Law Firm, there were 8 reported incidents within the past year involving sexual abuse of children who had been entrusted to daycare providers.

• January 2020: In California, Jose Luis Caballero Cortez was arrested on “multiple charges” of child sexual abuse at his home-based Porterville daycare center, Caballero Family Child Care. Further details were not immediately available.

• February 2020: In Texas, 45-year-old Taylor Wade Acord was arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child involving sexual contact at a daycare center operated at a private home. Acord is the husband of the daycare owner, Kimberley Acord. According to records maintained by Texas Health and Human Services, the daycare has been cited for 12 violations since it was first licensed in 2010 although the specific violations were not given. The daycare is currently licensed by the state.

• December 2019: In South Carolina, 29-year-old Jacob Hazlett was sentenced to 75 years in prison after being found guilty of one count first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, three counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and two counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. The charges were filed over incidents at the NewSpring megachurch near Charleston. Testimony at Hazlett’s trial revealed that he had had previously served as a volunteer at Elevation Church in Lake Norman, North Carolina before he was removed from that role in 2014 after church leadership developed an “uneasy feeling” about his interaction with children.

• November 2019: In New Mexico, 23-year-old Christopher Manuel was sentenced to 22 years in prison after being convicted of sexual assault involving 3- and 4-year-old victims. He lived at a home-based daycare center, Suzi’s Zoo, in Las Cruces.

• October 2019: In Arizona, 67-year-old Howard Blanton was arrested and charged with multiple counts of sexual conduct with a minor. According to police sources, the incidents occurred at multiple times between October 2018 and January 2019 at an unlicensed daycare operated by Blanton out of his home in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale.

• October 2019: In Nebraska, 26-year-old Titus Miller was charged with four counts of felony child sexual assault. The charges stem from incidents between 2016 and 2019 at the Playful Painters daycare in Lincoln, where Miller was employed. According to court documents, the FBI uncovered evidence that Miller had sexually assaulted and covertly produced sexually graphic photos and videos of victims.

• September 2019: In New York, 77-year-old Ramon Rodriguez was arrested on charges of sexually abusing two young girls at the Your Treasures Day Care center in the Queens neighborhood of South Ozone Park. The daycare is owned by Rodriguez’s daughter.

• September 2019: In Virginia, 36-year-old Elwood Lewis Thomas was arrested on five counts of rape, two counts of aggravated sexual battery, and one count of abduction with the intent to defile regarding incidents the in-home Happy Land Daycare where Thomas lived and worked in Annandale between 2006 and 2010. At the time of his arrest, Thomas was a registered sex offender and had previously served time for inappropriate contact with children at the daycare. The daycare ran from 1999 to 2012 and is no longer operating.

Discussion

Every daycare has the legal and moral duty to protect children from danger. If a daycare fails to provide such protection, its owners and/or employees can face criminal charges as well as be named as defendants in civil lawsuits.

Aside from sexual abuse committed by a daycare owner or an owner’s family member, most abusers are employees who have a previous history of crimes against children. Thus, it is the responsibility of a daycare to conduct a background check of all employees that could come into contact with children as well as to contact an applicant’s previous employers and references. Failure of a daycare provider to verify a worker’s criminal record and employment history is the most common reason that sexual predators are able to gain access to children.

Contacting a Daycare Sexual Abuse Lawyer

If your child was the victim of sexual abuse by a daycare worker, you should speak with a daycare sexual abuse lawyer who is experienced in managing lawsuits against against these sexual predators. One such lawyer is the daycare sexual abuse victim’s lawyer at The Doan Law Firm, a personal injury law firm with offices located throughout the country.

When you contact our firm to discuss the facts in your child’s daycare sexual abuse case, your case review and first consultation with out daycare sexual abuse lawyer is always free and does not obligate you to hire our firm to represent you in court. Should you decide that a lawsuit is in order, and that you would like for us to act as your legal counsel, we are willing to assume full responsibility for all aspects of preparing your case for trial in exchange for a percentage of the final settlement that we will win for you.