Former Day Care Worker Accused Of Shaking Baby
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – A former day care worker at Precious Promise Academy in Fort Lauderdale appeared in Broward County Court Monday, accused of battery on a 7-month-old baby under her care.
"He has some bruises on his ribs, on his back, on his butt," said the baby's father, Paul Jagielski.
Jagielski said in late February he went by the day care, located at 2699 W. Commercial Boulevard and, as he waited, he heard a constant noise and a baby crying. He began looking at the various surveillance camera monitors set up inside the room.
"I witnessed the lady shoving the kid's head down into the mat of the crib," said Jagielski. "She was shaking the crib hard enough for the kid's head to be hitting side to side. And those were just the three four minutes that I happened to be watching."
He said he took out his cell phone and began recording. And after hearing the baby shrieking he recognized it was his own child.
"We had EMT's. We had him taken to get CAT scans, X-rays and everything else," said Jagielski.
The father said the day care worker, identified as 62-year-old Seeta Roopchand, was fired from Precious Promise Academy after he and his wife called the police.
Although Roopchand was not arrrested, she was charged with battery and pleaded "not guilty" at Monday's arraignment.
Her attorney, Chris Narducci, issued the following statement to CBS4 News:
"The video presented to the police, the State Attorney's Office and myself appear to have been modified in an effort to give the viewer an inaccurate depiction of what occurred. My client is a good and decent woman who has successfully raised children of her own. I am confident that my client will be exonerated."
According to the complaint affidavit, "The def's actions clearly fall outside the boundaries of proper techniques and exceed the proper physical force that should be used when handling an infant child. A reasonable person could conclude that such actions and force may result in injuries to a small infant child. The child's physical injuries from the event were minor in nature (redness/marks)."
The child's father vows to seek justice.
"I'm actually really upset that this is just a battery. I'm very upset to hear that Florida doesn't have stronger rules and regulations against children. To me this isn't even enough that's being presented against her," said Jagielski.
CBS4 News reached out to Precious Promise Academy for an interview but they declined to comment citing an ongoing investigation.