A Florida day care worker was arrested on March 22 after she held a 7-year-old boy's arms behind his back while another child—her daughter—hit the boy, police said.
The incident took place on March 1 at the St. Justin Martyr Catholic Church day care in Key Largo.
The mother said two other children at the day care witnessed what happened.
Detectives went to the church and were informed that there was video footage showing what happened. Church officials said that based on what transpired they'd reported the incident to the state Department of Children and Families and fired Marrero.
Marrero did not dispute what happened but told church officials that she held the boy while her daughter hit him to teach the girl how to protect herself.
According to the sheriff's office, Marrero told church officials that she held the boy "in order to protect the girl."
"In the video, Balmaseda Marrero can be seen separating two children, one of them being the 7-year-old boy. For the next 10 seconds or so, Balmaseda Marrero appears to be speaking with the two children. Balmaseda Marrero can then be seen holding the arms of the 7-year-old boy behind his back while a little girl, the 4-year-old, walks up to Balmaseda Marrero. Balmaseda Marrero speaks to the girl. The girl then hits the boy. It is unclear in the video if the boy was struck in the face or torso," the sheriff's office stated.
Marrero said she did not intend to cause any injury.
The girl who hit the boy was later identified as Marrero's daughter.
Marrero was arrested on Friday, charged with misdemeanor battery, and released on $5,000 bond.
Mom Says Day Care Worker Bit Toddler
In Texas, meanwhile, a mother of six said that her 3-year-old daughter came home one day from day care with bite marks on her arm and told her mother that a worker at the day care bit her daughter as punishment.The day care was identified as Twin Creeks KinderCare in Allen and the worker was identified as 32-year-old Michelle Grogan.
Elliott filed a lawsuit against the day care and the teacher.
KinderCare said that it fired Grogan and has taken steps to make children in its care safer but the facility had been tagged by the state in the past for multiple deficiencies.
Elliott said that Grogan told her that her daughter had been bitten on the arm by another student and bit herself on the wrist but when she asked her daughter what happened, the girl said her teacher had bitten her.
At home, the girl's story didn't change, prompting Elliott to measure the bite marks. She said they were about an inch and a half wide, too large to have come from a toddler.
"It was a pretty gnarly bite," Elliott said. "It was vicious."
A doctor examined the girl and said the bite "appears to be an adult bite." The doctor also found smaller bruises on the girl's forehead. The toddler described them as "spider bites" that Grogan gave her.