Families of the Woodbridge, Va., day care Minnieland Academy at the Glen, where staff members were accused of abusing toddlers, are coming forward with new concerns.
A report from the Virginia Department of Social Services claims workers stomped on children's bare toes, covered their mouths with blankets and sprayed them with full pressure hoses, among other alleged abuses.
Parents told News4's Northern Virginia Bureau they noticed changes in their children’s behavior during the time of the alleged abuse.
Shanna Greisen said before she pulled her 21-month-old son out of Minnieland, he dreaded going to daycare.
"He would just cry," she said. "He would throw himself on the floor, you know. Just, 'No mommy, no mommy.'"
She also noticed her son’s new fear of water.
"He won't go in the bathtub," she said. "He won't go in the big bathtub ... The only way we can bathe him is in the sink."
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Around the same time period, 2-year-old Kendall Buckner’s father, Blake, witnessed a change in his son.
"... Just screaming, 'No daddy. No. No pool,'" Blake Buckner said. "And I was very bewildered why, you know. He's always loved swimming. Every day we brought him to school he would cry."
Minnieland COO Chris Schuster directed the Northern Virginia Bureau to a video posted last night by the company’s owners, Jackie and Chuck Leopold.
In the meantime, parents are consulting attorneys to determine whether they want to take legal action against Minnieland, and Prince William County police are still investigating the allegations.
