Incident involving an LI daycare center employee and two children investigated: police

EAST PATCHOGUE, N.Y. — Suffolk police are investigating an incident between a staff member and at least two 3-year-old children at the Way To Grow Child Care and Learning Center in East Patchogue on Oct. 21, a spokesman said.

Child Protective Services was notified, police said.

According to the police, the daycare center was cooperative in the investigation.

The grandmother of one of the children told News12 that her grandson was thrown twice on camera, had his ears twitched and was reprimanded when he became sad.

His mother was immediately notified and went to the school to view the footage, the outlet reported.

In a statement obtained by the outlet, a spokesperson for Way to Grow said that “management has been made aware of an isolated incident involving inappropriate physical behavior by an employee toward children.” Two other employees who witnessed this behavior came forward does not comply with the statutory reporting requirement. All three individuals were immediately released.”