OCEAN TOWNSHIP, N.J. — The mother of a 2-year-old girl in New Jersey is seeking answers after she discovered that one of her daughter’s braids was missing when she picked her up from day care last week.
The mother shared photos with ABC New York affiliate WABC that appear to show the missing portion of the child’s hair.
But the day care says there is no evidence a braid was pulled from her head.
WABC exclusively spoke to the mother who is now taking legal action against the day care.
“Then that’s when she sent me the picture, and that’s when I saw the big bald spot in my childhood head with the braid missing,” said Tamara Hemingway, the mother of the child.
Hemingway said she sent her 2-year-old to day care with four braids on the right side of her head.
She said when she called to check in on her child, a staff member at the Growing Kids Academy noticed one braid on Myla’s head was missing.
“In order for a braid to be removed, some level of force must be used. It was a cornrow tightly braided down to her scalp. There is no way that, I don’t know who could have done it, but I am certain she or another child would not have done that,” explained Hemingway.
A report with the Ocean Township Police said Myla’s hair looked normal around 11 a.m. Video from inside the classroom showed her playing with the braid several times.
The officer noted one of the teachers is seen on video trying to take a smock off Myla’s head around 11:45 a.m. at which point she is seen putting her hand to the right side of her head.
After this, the officer noted they no longer saw the braid.
Even after searching, the hair or the barrettes were not found.
“What troubles me about the case is that the facility deflected and they told my client various different things. They didn’t know if her child pulled it out. They didn’t know what happened at first they said that they had no idea that it even happened,” attorney Marc Caswell said.
The director of the day care told WABC it is not clear exactly what happened, but there is no evidence Myla’s hair was pulled out.
Hemingway says this isn’t so much about the manner in which the braid came off, but the way the day care handled the situation.
“They’re supposed to notify me. Just to even like give whatever little information you do have about the incident until you look into it further and confirm. But no one even called me to just let me know that little bit of information. I’m very upset and I’m very frustrated because this is my child. Like she’s not able to let me know what happened. And that’s the concerning part, the fact that they’re just so insensitive. Like no one even called me to check on her, see how she was doing,” Hemingway said.
Hemingway says Myla has been removed from the day care and says the 2-year-old has been sensitive to people touching her hair ever since the incident.
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