LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Las Vegas Metro police are investigating an incident at a childcare facility after a mother found her child tied up, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.
Kala Hall said she found her 9-year-old son Kody’s hands bound as he appeared to be sleeping on March 20 at Cherished Legacy Academy. “My brain, like, I couldn’t even process what I was looking at,” Hall told the 8 News Now Investigators. “I just literally was like, oh, maybe he just wrapped himself in the blanket, but then I reached down to, like, unravel him, and then that’s when I realized, like, no, this is not like a normal where I couldn’t pull it apart.” Kody is on the autism spectrum, and while he is verbal, he did not reveal what happened, according to Hall. “He just says, ‘mommy, I’m sorry, I’ll be a good boy,’” Hall told the 8 News Now Investigators. “But when I asked him, like, who did that? Or when anyone asks him, he’s like, I don’t know.” Hall said employees did not provide answers. “I’m like, why is my son wrapped up like this?” she asked. “Like, why is he tied up? Nobody’s answering me.” She immediately took her son to the emergency room. “I really feel like he could have died in that position,” Hall said. “It was so tight around his stomach.” The hospital staff called the police, and an officer wrote a report for child abuse and neglect. Officer Zachary Gainey visited the childcare facility. A worker told Gainey the kids were playing cops and robbers, and the other kids tied up Kody, according to the report. Gainey wrote that he did not believe Kody or another child could have been responsible for tying Kody’s hands behind his back. Hall said a detective later told her he watched video from inside the facility. “Supposedly, nobody was watching,” Hall said. “My son wrapped this blanket around his neck, and then he goes in the corner and he kind of lies down and there’s no movement, but you can’t see, they can’t see how he got in that position.” A department spokesperson said the investigation was ongoing as of April 4. The facility also faces an investigation from the state. “The allegations regarding Cherished Legacy Academy are currently being assessed,” Molly Moser, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, wrote in an email. The 8 News Now Investigators also learned Cherished Legacy Academy has a provisional license. This is due to noncompliance with state law, along with pending director approval, according to Moser. Moser said the most recent annual inspection identified areas that required attention. An investigation closed last October revealed multiple violations for problems including a lack of supervision, teachers heard yelling at children inappropriately, an inadequate number of toys and supplies, no vegetables, fruits, or milk served at lunch, and a janitor in the building who was not fingerprinted, according to state records. Another investigation closed last November revealed multiple violations for problems including ratios. State inspectors noted 29 kids of various ages with one worker and a child biting other children. Hall is calling for several firings and for the childcare facility to be shut down. “Very upsetting because there’s just no excuse for it. None,” she said. Cherished Legacy Academy is a 24-hour facility located on Tropicana Avenue near Jones Boulevard. The 8 News Now Investigators reached out to the childcare facility. A woman who said she was “upper management,” but refused to identify her position at the childcare facility, insisted this was not a story and said Hall viewed video which shows that Kody tied himself up. Hall insists she was never given the opportunity to view the video, but has reached out to the facility repeatedly about it. To reach investigative reporter Vanessa Murphy, email [email protected] …