MEMPHIS, Tenn. — William Durden Junior fusses like all babies do, but it doesn’t take much to make him happy again.
But the seven-month-old’s dad said he’s shocked at the way a worker at Nurturing Young Minds Daycare in Hickory Hill responded to his child’s fussing.
Surveillance video appears to show the worker walk over to the cradle he’s in and shake him, before grabbing him by his arm and picking him up with one arm.
“It takes a few more minutes for it all to sink in, but I’m saying, ‘This is happening,'” said father William Durden.
Durden said this was all uncovered after Junior was picked up from daycare with burn marks on his face.
“Speechless, I mean speechless is what you are when you see your child with this much skin damage to his face.”
He said daycare workers told him they were from rug-burn caused by Junior having a tantrum, but said a doctor later told him that would’ve been impossible.
He said the doctor then called authorities.
“They called police, Department of Child Services.”
Durden said his family went to watch three hours of surveillance footage at the daycare to try and pinpoint what caused the burns. That’s when he said he saw all kinds of shocking acts, from the way workers carried children to the very incident they think might’ve caused the burns.
He said video shows a worker washing dishes two feet away from his son when she looks at him and shakes a wet dish at his face. He says video later showed a different employee wiping Junior’s face with some type of towel.
On Wednesday, the daycare confirmed they fired one of the workers in the video Durden shared with WREG’s Bridget Chapman and are investigating two other employees.
A director didn’t want to give an interview while police investigate, but said she’s just as shocked at what the video shows.
“There needs to be some major changes done immediately,” said Durden.
Nurturing Young Minds has a history of complaints with the state but still has a three-star rating.
There were multiple violations last year of having too many children compared to the number of staff members.
