MONROE — Five parents have filed a lawsuit against the Monroe-based day care Kid’s Country, alleging staff abused their children.
Children as young as 2 were abused by “throwing, hitting, kicking, pushing, taunting, yelling at and threatening physical punishment” at Kid’s Country, 14943 North Kelsey St., according to the lawsuit filed last week in Snohomish County Superior Court.
The Monroe Police Department was investigating Kid’s Country and Tristina Smith, a staff member at the facility. Child Protective Services was assisting in the police investigation, according to the lawsuit.
“The health and safety of our children is our upmost priority,” a spokesperson for the learning center said. “We are working in full cooperation with CPS to bring this investigation to a close.”
Since March 2021, the state Department of Children, Youth & Families investigated 17 complaints against Kid’s Country, which has nine locations in Washington, according to court documents.
On March 30, a child needed stitches under his chin after going to the day care, court documents said. Staff told parents he tripped and fell on the playground. The 5-year-old reportedly told his parents another child hit him, causing his chin to collide with a bar.
When the child reported this to Kid’s Country staff, he reportedly told his mother, they responded with, “you are (expletive) fine,” according to the court papers.
Another time, the same child reported Smith grabbed his arm so hard it left bruises for several days, according to the lawsuit.
Court records suggest Smith is not represented by an attorney. The Daily Herald was unable to reach her.
In September, another parent noticed their 3-year-old child had “significant” bruising on his body after being in Smith’s care, according to the lawsuit. Smith never provided any injury reports to the parents.
Video evidence from Sept. 21 showed Smith “violently” throwing a child, 5, into a shelf, before verbally abusing and kicking him for almost 30 minutes, the lawsuit alleges.
Other video evidence reportedly captured abuse from the same day. A 2-year-old was sitting at a table and stuck out his tongue when Smith allegedly went up to him and hit both sides of his face, yelled at him and threw him on the ground, lawyers wrote.
As of this week, the Monroe facility was still open.
Jonathan Tall: 425-339-3486; jonathan.tall@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @snocojon.
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