A Denton couple has taken a local day care to court, claiming their 4-month-old son was left alone long enough to be hurt by another child. The civil lawsuit, filed Jan. 2 in Denton County, names the center’s operator and seeks between $250,000 and $1 million to cover medical bills and future damages. According to the complaint, the baby was taken to Cook Children’s in Prosper, where doctors treated him for an infected scratch, bruising and an eye infection, as reported by The Dallas Morning News.
What the lawsuit alleges
For any parent who has nervously watched a caregiver walk away from the crib, the suit reads like a worst-case scenario. The parents say their son, who they emphasize was too young to roll or crawl, was left unattended in a bouncing chair. While he was alone in that seat, the complaint claims, an older child came over and struck him multiple times before any adult stepped in.
The lawsuit further alleges that staff were stretched too thin and did not follow state-mandated staff-to-child ratios. It also claims the center failed to keep infants physically separated from older children, a basic safeguard that parents say should have prevented the encounter altogether. The filing names Pro Kids Incorporated, which operates The Kids Zone at 3730 E. McKinney St., and seeks damages for medical expenses, pain and suffering and future impairment, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Video and parents’ account
The family says their fears were confirmed when they reviewed video from inside the center. According to the parents, the footage appears to show an older child walking up to the baby and repeatedly hitting him while no caregiver is in the room. They allege that more than a minute and a half passes before any staff member comes back.
The baby’s mother told reporters she could no longer trust the day care after watching the video, and she says other parents reached out with similar worries about supervision. The family says their son later developed swelling and an infection that required medical treatment, as reported by Univision 23 Dallas-Fort Worth.
State oversight and possible enforcement
Texas Health and Human Services, the agency that licenses child care centers, told reporters that safety complaints rise to the top of the pile and are investigated as a priority. The agency said investigations typically take 30 to 60 days to wrap up…