Lawsuit: Daycare used Magic Eraser on kids' faces, caused chemical burns

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Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Lawsuit alleges Colorado daycare teacher mistreatment of two children
Lawsuit alleges Colorado daycare teacher mistreatment of two children.

DENVER, Colorado -- Parents in Denver are searching for answers after their children received chemical burns at a daycare.

The parents believe a teacher is responsible for the chemical burns caused by an incident involving a magic eraser in May.

"The two teachers came up to me when I picked him up and said, 'your son and another boy got into a marker fight.' And immediately my son said 'Mommy my throat hurts," parent Caitlin Sims said.

Sims was the first parent to be notified about her child's injuries.

"The teacher said, 'oh, I'm so sorry. I must have been scrubbing you too hard when I cleaned you," Sims said.

Joel and Stacy Dant did not find out about what happened to their son until hours later.

"It just looked red, like just redness was all. And then the next day was whenever it like really started to show," Stacey said.

Both sets of parents returned days later to review surveillance video.

"It was the toughest thing that my wife and I have ever seen," parent Josh Sims said.

They say the scabs on both of the boys' faces does not show the real trauma.

"Pushing her thumb into his neck, ripped him backwards and pulled him over backwards, to the extent that he buckled," Josh said.

The Dants and Sims' say they started getting different stories from the school about what happened and what could be done.

"Frankly, we expected the school to advocate a little bit more for us," Josh said.

Online records showed the school is under probation, but does not show any injuries or complaints in the past three years.

Child protective services told the Sims' it could be a few more weeks before a report is ready.

The lawsuit filed is against the school, its parent company, and the teacher involved.

A statement from the school's company says it has taken the appropriate steps and will continue their investigation.