Family’s daycare abuse experience drives proposed new MN laws
Child abuse recognition is the focus of new bill
A child abuse case at a daycare in Blaine became the motivation for a proposed new law that aims to help parents recognize the signs that abuse could be occurring among infants.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A child abuse case in Blaine is the motivation for a proposed new law aiming to help parents recognize the signs.
Personal mission
Aiming to end abuse:
For the bill’s author, the proposal is personal.
"My child Sybil – which, you’ll see pictures of her – was abused," said Rep. Nolan West (R-Blaine), as he fought off tears to present his bill to a House health committee.
For a lawmaker, just like for anyone else, it’s not easy to talk about the abuse your child suffered. But West has done it a lot since last July.
What they didn't know
Suspicious bruising:
His wife recorded a series of bruises on their daughter, and they were suspicious, but they accepted excuses from the teachers at Small World Learning Center about how it happened.
"One of my biggest regrets is not understanding how to recognize abuse," the lawmaker said.
"A lot of parents, including us, did not know that any bruising on an infant that's not walking is not normal," said his wife, Megan West.
Blaine daycare infant abuse charges
Parents at the Small World learning center in Blaine are extremely upset after learning two teachers have been arrested for allegedly abusing infants, leading to multiple injuries.
What they missed
Signs were there:
They pulled their daughter out of the daycare, and not long afterwards, another toddler suffered a broken leg.
Police watched video from the daycare and arrested two teachers.
But parents believe the abuse had started months earlier and hit at least a dozen children before the arrests ended it.
"If we knew what to look for, we could have stopped it and prevented anyone else from being harmed," said Janice DeGonda, whose daughter was also injured at the daycare.
‘Look and see’
Educating parents:
West has now written a bill making it mandatory for healthcare workers to give new parents information on how to recognize abuse on toddlers.
They’d get it by the time the kid has its first well visit, usually within two months of birth.
He might get emotional discussing why it’s important to him, but he’ll keep doing it because unlike most victims’ parents, he’s in a position to do something about it.
"This would not have come to be if it wasn't a legislator’s child," said Rep. West. "I'm in a really lucky position to be able to do something."
What's next:
The two suspects are now facing five felonies.
And Rep. West is working on other bills coming out of this experience, including one to require daycare centers to retain surveillance video for longer than the week they could go back in this case.