Two Brooklyn fathers are demanding answers after their 2-year-old daughter came home from Downtown Brooklyn Childcare with bruises and bite marks on her body.
Christopher and Kegel said they first noticed something was wrong when they tried to clean paint off their daughter Kai's arm.
That’s when they found a red bruise. When they removed her clothes, they said they discovered two bite marks on her shoulder.
“Oh my God... panic mode. Wondering what happened,” Kegel told News 12.
The fathers said they immediately returned to the day care to speak with staff and the nurse.
At first, they said they were told staff didn’t know where the marks came from.
Later, a teacher told them another child had been tugging on Kai’s hair and that the situation had been addressed.
Still concerned, the parents asked to see surveillance footage. In emails reviewed by News 12, the day care director told them she had watched the video and did not see anything unusual.
But when the parents asked to review it themselves, they say they were told the system automatically deletes footage after 48 hours.
“I just feel like they’re covering up something,” Kegel said.
The fathers filed a police report, contacted the Administration for Children’s Services, and had Kai examined by a doctor. They said they would have understood if the day care had been up front about what happened and feel like their concerns were not taken seriously.
“Had they just said, ‘Hey, the kids got into it, this is what happened.’ We’re parents. We understand kids do things they can’t control,” Kegel said.
In an email to the parents, the day care director said the center has reviewed its supervision policies, added daily health checks and offered to transfer Kai to a different classroom. Her parents decided to keep her home instead.
The family is now waiting to hear back from authorities about next steps. In the meantime, they are urging other parents to check their children at pickup.
At this time, Downtown Brooklyn Childcare did not respond to News 12's requests for comment.