Former Pumpkin Patch Daycare employee gives insight into possible child mistreatment
A family member of a former employee at a Eunice daycare now under investigation for child abuse is speaking out. She says possible mistreatment has been going on for years.
EUNICE, La. (KLFY) – A family member of a former employee at a Eunice daycare now under investigation for child abuse is speaking out. She says possible mistreatment has been going on for years.
The investigation into the Pumpkin Patch Daycare of Eunice began after videos surfaced this week showing young children being mistreated.
A former employee sent News 10 videos of employees throwing slices of cheese on the faces of toddlers and young children, wearing scary masks and intentionally frightening the littles ones to the point of tears, also taping them to a chair. Some employees are seen laughing while the children are in tears.
"There was a lot of mistreatments of kids. The workers, the staff would put their hands on people's kids, and she worked there years ago," Adriana Rasmussen, whose family member was a daycare worker at the facility, told News 10.
Rasmussen says this is one of the reasons her family member quit her job at Pumpkin Patch Daycare about three years ago.
"She told me that Courtney had cameras. She had cameras in the building, but they were never on," she added. "You don't run a daycare facility with other people's children in there and not have cameras on."
According to the daycare's website, Courtney Fontenot is the owner and manager. News 10 tried contacting her, though our calls went unanswered. News 10 also waited at the daycare for hours. though no one was there or ever came.
Residents who live nearby tell News 10 they were up and running last week, however, this week, they've been closed.
Rasmussen says the owner and staff should be held accountable.
"They should be ashamed of their selves and they should look at their kids and wonder what they would do if that would have happened to their child. If their child was taped to a chair, getting slapped in the face with a piece of cheese, or being scared with a mask," Rasmussen said.
Eunice Police Chief Kyle Lebouf says the videos could be old, though that doesn't matter when it comes to criminal charges.
Rasmussen's family member says she should have gone to police back then when she quit.
"I don't think the cops were involved, because if they were involved, this would have been come out since years ago," she added.
Chief Lebouf told News 10 earlier this week the videos show child abuse or child neglect. As of Friday, he told us the case is still under investigation.