JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville day care that closed abruptly Monday morning was investigated by the Florida Department of Children and Families after a mother reported to police and the agency that her child was abused at the Deerwood location.
The DCF communications director for the Northeast region confirmed the agency investigated claims that a worker at the Creative Minds Academy of Deerwood abused a child, but would not tell the News4Jax I-TEAM whether the allegations against the worker were found to be true.
Mother LePorcha Calhoun said she reported a worker at Creative Minds Academy of Deerwood to DCF and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office after she discovered scratches on her 3-year-old son's cheek and he told her a worker grabbed and pulled on his cheeks.
A police report obtained by the I-TEAM was heavily redacted, but indicates the incident happened in July.
“I look on the side of his face and there is a thumbprint-shaped scratch on this side and a straight line on this side. So then I asked to show me what (the worker) did on your face. He proceeds to take his fingers on my face and pulled forward as hard as he could,” Calhoun said. “Then, he apologizes to me for doing it.”
Since July, the I-TEAM has asked DCF for the results of its investigation into Creative Minds Academy Deerwood campus.
In a statement, DCF Northeast Region Communications Director John Harrell told the I-TEAM, “The Department of Children and Families (DCF) conducted an investigation regarding the incident at Creative Minds of Deerwood. The results remain confidential per Section 39.202, Florida Statutes.”
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Calhoun sent the I-TEAM an email that she said she had received from the Creative Minds Academy operations director. In the email, the director of operations wrote:
“Please understand corporate is taking all appropriate actions necessary at this time but cannot remove (the worker) because no determination has yet been made by the appropriate licensing agencies” and that the accused worker “has however been put on notice that if she had any involvement in the incident regarding the scratches on your child’s face, she will be terminated immediately.”
The I-TEAM sent multiple emails to Creative Minds Academy and went to the Deerwood location to get answers, but had not received a response as of late Monday afternoon.
Calhoun said she removed her son from Creative Minds of Deerwood, but was concerned other parents were not told the investigation was happening and the worker who was being investigated continued to work during the DCF investigation.
“Why should children, innocent children, be forced to work around a woman who is possibly abusing them? And there is no one to defend them,” Calhoun said.
The I-TEAM asked DCF about its policy on child care staff continuing to work while the subject of an active DCF abuse investigation. Harrell told the I-TEAM:
“During an active child protective investigation, Section 39.302(2)(a), Florida Statutes, permits DCF to restrict a subject’s access to children in care. Additionally, if a licensing investigation reveals the child care facility violated any regulations in the Florida Administrative Code, DCF will take administrative action, which may include, but is not limited to, license revocation.”
At the time, in late October, DCF told the I-TEAM that Creative Minds of Deerwood’s license was active.
The I-TEAM contacted the worker who is the subject of the DCF investigation, and she said she didn’t know anything about the investigation.