Inset: Daniel Patrick Riley (Upper Gwynedd Police Department). Background: Little Lambs Daycare where Riley allegedly abused multiple children (WCAU).
A Pennsylvania daycare worker allegedly abused multiple children for singing and not being quiet, causing injuries including a fractured ankle which led to state officials shutting the facility down.
Daniel Patrick Riley, 47, stands accused of one count of aggravated assault, four counts of endangering the welfare of children along with a misdemeanor charge of tampering with evidence, the Upper Gwynedd Police Department said.
Cops began investigating in March when they received several complaints from parents about alleged child abuse at Little Lambs Daycare. Riley works as an assistant director and toddler room teacher at the daycare owned by his mother.
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The allegations included: Riley kicking and stepping on a child’s foot, a toddler suffering a rug burn after Riley pulled the child across the floor “due to them singing,” and the defendant pulling a child up from the ground with enough force to cause an abrasion.
Riley also allegedly “grabbed a child’s face from under the chin and squeezed their cheeks due to not sitting still or being quiet.”
Investigators also accused Riley of “excessively yelling at children” and putting them in timeouts lasting an “unreasonable duration.”
The defendant allegedly tried to cover his tracks. Cops say he deleted some of the video showing his alleged abuse. The Department of Human Services revoked the daycare’s license after its own investigation.
Upper Gwynedd Police Det. Dana Hallam told Philadelphia NBC affiliate WCAU that one of the children suffered a fractured ankle.
“There is another physical incident where he grabbed a child’s face, and there’s just multiple incidents where it involved that he went above of what he should’ve been doing as a guardian of these children,” Hallam said.
The TV station also spoke with a mother of one of the allegedly abused children. She said her daughter came home with bruises and other signs of neglect. The girl told her mother what Riley allegedly did to her.
“I have so many feelings, I am extremely hurt,” the mother told the TV station.
Riley turned himself in to the Montgomery County Prison on Thursday. He’s being held there on a $25,000 bond. His next court date is set for Aug. 13.
The post Daycare worker dragged child across floor for singing, squeezed another kid’s face for ‘not sitting still’ and fractured the ankle of 1 more: Cops first appeared on Law & Crime.
