Background: The Cherished Legacy Academy in Las Vegas, Nev., was in the news as KLAS aired footage. Additionally, a photo of the boy involved in the incident was showcased in KLAS’s investigation.
A Nevada mom who came to pick up her 9-year-old son from a child care center plans to sue after finding her son’s hands bound behind his back.
Kala Hall, whose age was undisclosed, shared her experience with a Las Vegas CBS affiliate, KLAS. She recounted discovering her 9-year-old son, Kody, with his hands tied behind his back when she arrived to collect him on March 20. Hall expressed her shock to the media outlet at the concerning situation.
When she found him, she said he “appeared dead.”
Hall told KLAS, “[H]e appeared dead to me. He was on his stomach. His mouth was open. His head was tilt[ed], and no one had an answer for me.”
Hall told KLAS that her son has autism, but is verbal. Despite his ability to speak, he didn’t tell his mother what happened.
Following Hall’s report to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, an investigation was launched. However, authorities decided not to pursue a criminal case after looking into the matter. Detectives mentioned that Kody was observed playing with the covering that had been used to bind him. The police informed KLAS via email that the available evidence did not substantiate the allegation of a criminal act.
In their coverage of the initial police report, KLAS said that officers didn’t believe that Kody or a student could have bound the 9-year-old. An employee also reportedly told police that the children were playing “cops and robbers.”
Hall signaled that she intended to sue the facility. Her attorney, Ramzy Ladah of Ladah Law Firm, pointed to alleged negligence on the part of the facility’s supervisors and employees. He told KLAS that the suit wasn’t “just about Kody. It’s about making sure day cares properly care for children and don’t abuse them.”
Surveillance video from inside the room where Kody was allegedly bound was shown to Hall after she brought the story to KLAS’ investigative unit. But she said that her boy couldn’t be seen on camera. Still, one of the facility’s employees reportedly claimed “she could only see his feet,” but Hall told KLAS, “I find it very hard that she could not see him.” Hall also told KLAS that she believed the same employee was using her cellphone at the time.
KLAS reached out to Cherished Legacy Academy and stated that they “acted swiftly to communicate with the family, reported the incident to local authorities, and immediately conducted an internal investigation.” After reviewing the video footage and conducting interviews and on-site visits, the licensing board “did not indicate any violations related to this incident and authorities have closed their case.”
A spokesperson from Nevada’s Child Care and Development Program who confirmed to KLAS that an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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