HAMILTON COUNTY — The Westfield Police Department is conducting a criminal investigation after a child was allegedly abused at a childcare center.
The incident happened on December 22, 2023, at the KinderCare Learning Center on Gunther Road in Westfield.
Westfield Police forwarded their case to the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s office on Wednesday, but no charges have been filed to date.
WRTV became aware after a family member contacted WRTV Investigates Kara Kenney.
The child’s mother, Caitlyn Ramirez, of Carmel, said she didn’t find out about the alleged abuse of her son until Westfield Police called her last month.
“They just said they had a video they'd like to show me in person,” said Ramirez. “The officer came over and he showed me the video.”
Ramirez said the video showed her son Harvey, who was 3-years-old at the time, in a baby crib.
It appeared the cellphone video was taken by an employee of the daycare in December 2023, said Ramirez.
“The video was of his teacher grabbing him out of the crib and lifting him up to the ceiling, holding him there while he kept on crying,” said Ramirez. “When she put him down, it wasn't a sit down in the crib, it was like she just dropped him in the crib.”
Ramirez said she was angry by what she saw on the video.
“It was very hurtful,” said Ramirez. “This happened so long ago and now it’s just being reported.”
She started sending Harvey to KinderCare Learning Center on Gunther Road in June 2023 and changed daycares in July 2024.
Ramirez said Harvey never told her about the incident, but recalls he was hesitant to go to daycare.
“He was just like, 'I don't like school anymore,'” said Ramirez. “I was like ‘Harvey, you've gotta go. I've gotta go to work.’"
WRTV Investigates looked up inspection reports on the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) Child Care Finder website.
Records show the KinderCare Learning Center became aware of the incident on October 4, 2024.
FSSA cited the KinderCare Learning Center on Gunther Road for the following:
- Not immediately reporting allegations of abuse/neglect from the 12/22/23 incident to the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS)
- Not notifying parents of the incident from 12/22/23
- The caregiver engaged in inappropriate discipline which includes placing the 3-year-old in crib
FSSA placed the childcare center on probation.
“The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning inspected Kindercare Learning Center in Westfield on Oct. 9 and cited it for noncompliance due to not reporting abuse/neglect allegations,” said James Vaughn, a spokesperson for FSSAS, in an email to WRTV. “OECOSL placed the program on probation through Jan. 31, 2025, and will inspect the program monthly.”
FSSA mails letters to all the program’s enrolled families and publishes a public notice in the local newspaper when a program is placed on probation, said Vaughn.
Ramirez is glad the information is publicly available.
“It’s good so that other moms know when they are looking for childcare, at least they can see what has happened,” said Ramirez.
You can look up inspection reports on the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) Child Care Finder website.
WRTV Investigates contacted KinderCare’s corporate office.
KinderCare Statement:
Nothing is more important to us than the safety of the children in our care. We promptly fired the teacher involved in early October and retrained all of our Gunther KinderCare teachers and staff on proper child guidance methods as well as their duties as mandated reporters.
We are all mandated reporters in Indiana, which means we are legally obligated to report suspected child abuse or neglect to the state hotline at 1-800-800-5556.
