A teacher at a Homestead daycare was arrested after she was accused of grabbing and shaking a 2-year-old boy, authorities said.
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Beatriz Gomez Hurtado, 53, was arrested Monday on a charge of child abuse with no great bodily harm, Miami-Dade jail records showed.
According to an arrest report, Gomez Hurtado was working at the Lincoln-Marti Schools and Childcare Centers location at 15198 Southwest 288th Street when the toddler started misbehaving in a classroom.
After he laid on ground having a temper tantrum Gomez Hurtado lifted him by his wrist and stood him upright then “placed both of her hands around the victim’s neck and face and shook the victim back and forth a few times,” the report said.
She then put him in timeout in a chair, the report said.
The boy was found with a mark on the side of his neck and bruising on his cheek.
Gomez Hurtado was arrested and booked into jail. She appeared before a judge on Tuesday who set her bond at $5,000.
In a statement, Lincoln-Marti officials said the daycare’s director contacted the boy’s mother after an employee reported that the child had a mark on his neck.
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The director reviewed the classroom surveillance footage and immediately removed the employee from the classroom and campus and fired her, the statement said.
“Lincoln-Martí Community Agency is deeply saddened and troubled by the conduct depicted in the classroom surveillance video involving a former employee and a two-year-old child,” the statement read, in part.
The statement went on to stay the company is cooperating with police in the investigation.
“We are grateful that the center Director acted decisively and followed reporting and child-protection procedures. Although no system can always predict the actions of an individual employee, Lincoln-Mаrtí’s surveillance, supervisory and reporting safeguards enabled the conduct to be discovered promptly, the employee to be removed, the family to be informed and the appropriate authorities to be notified,” the statement read.
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