Kindercare Plainfield on state probation after abuse investigation

PLAINFIELD, Ind. -- KinderCare Plainfield has advised parents of its day care children that Indiana regulators have put the center on "a three-month probationary license." This comes after abuse allegations surfaced last week.




"Our Center Director and the teacher involved have been placed on administrative leave," reads the statement issued in the name of April Sullivan, warning that the alleged incident, "is also likely to be covered in the local news this week."




Findings by the Family & Social Services Administration determined that KinderCare's "Director failed to report complaint of alleged abuse or neglect that occurred on 8/4/25 to DCS;" and, "Director was unable to give accurate and detail accounts of...alleged abuse and neglect;" and, "Caregivers were observed...taking hose and spraying children (2 yrs of age) water over the head and in faces."




The FSSA report indicates one of the children sprayed in the face was a special needs toddler who has "sensory issues with water and fear of water."




The allegations and report were not a surprise to a former employee.




"The only thing that surprised me was how long it took for people to notice or do anything about it," said Katherine Stokes, who said she worked at the childcare center from September 2023 to February 2024.

Stokes said she quit her job after witnessing abuse, being stonewalled by her superiors and chastised for truthfully answering questions from a parent about suspicious marks on their child.




"I didn't like how I was being dismissed," Stokes said after she warned a co-teacher that she was being too rough with the toddlers in their care. "I was like, 'Hey, I don't really like how you're hitting the kids and treating them,' and she was like, 'Oh, yeah, I'm sorry, just let me know if I'm going too far,' and whenever I do, she's like, 'It's fine. They'll get over it.'"




Stokes recalled an incident involving an over-tired and hungry 2-year-old girl.




"I had already given a plate to one of the children who was crying because they were really hungry and they had a long day, they were really tired, they were just ready for their nap, and I gave the plate to her but since she was crying, the teacher took away her plate and said, 'You don't get this until you stop crying and acting like a child.'"




Stokes said her co-teacher was physically abusive to the children.




"She would shove a child down for trying to take her water bottle that she left on the floor and said, 'Hey, don't touch that. That's mine,' or there was another time when one of the other girls in the class was getting up to get a book and she picked her up and threw her down and said, 'You need to sit down and listen to the story.'"




Stokes said special needs children came in for teacher-sanctioned assaults by other youngsters.




"Some other kids would hit the autistic kids without needing to be asked to, and when the other teacher was correcting them, 'Hey, don't hit him,' the other teacher told, 'Hey, you can hit him. It's okay. He's kind of autistic.'








"And I would notice little bruises that would be left on them after certain activities and stuff," Stokes said before going to her supervisor, "and I was like, 'Hey, I'm really concerned about this, children are being abused and I don't like it, its making me really uncomfortable and its hurting the kids and I don't like it and I want you to talk to her about it,' and she said she would but even after then the abuse would continue."




Stokes said that she struck out in an attempt to tell corporate higher-ups outside of the Plainfield facility what was going on and that the director at KinderCare seemed reluctant to discipline the offending teachers, "and they didn't want to fire them and then risk losing two other teachers or another teacher."




Stokes estimated that on a typical day, 100 children would attend KinderCare Plainfield, 15 of them toddlers.




When FOX59/CBS4 crews visited the site today, an unsecured door was found propped open with a rock, though the main lobby entrance door was secured.




KinderCare Corporate Communications confirmed Thursday evening that the two staff members are no longer employed at the childcare center.




The FSSA order directs KinderCare Plainfield that its employees, "shall not engage in or direct any of the following actions toward children: Hit, spank, beat, shake, pinch or any other measure that produces physical discomfort."





via: https://fox59.com/indiana-news/kindercare-plainfield-on-state-probation-after-abuse-investigation/