UPDATE: Police arrested Randolph King, of Landover, Md., and charged him with first-degree child sex abuse. They said Randolph, a chuch employee, attempted to sexually abuse a juvenile.
Authorities said the day-care center wasn't shut down because of the abuse allegation but because of unspecified code violations, News4's Darcy Spencer reported Thursday.
A day-care center at a northeast D.C. church was shut down after police began investigating child abuse allegations.
A woman yelled upon entering the child development center at Zion Baptist Church of Eastland Gardens and seeing the alleged incident April 10. A 3-year-old boy was on his stomach on a cot with his pants pulled down, according to the police report. A man standing above the boy was exposed.
The incident was not reported until Friday. It’s unclear when the parents of the 65 who went to the center were notified
“If this is true, this destroys the church, the daycare, so I just pray it didn’t happen, because we need a church like this,” said Justina Wilkins, president of the Eastland Gardens community association and a member of the church for 50 years.
Investigators are focusing on a man who may have ties to the child development center, sources told News4.
Deacon Smith Banks told News4 he could not comment on the investigation or personnel matters.
