A day care in Woodbury is being investigated for ‘maltreatment’ after a nine-month-old baby suffered a broken leg.

This week, the Minnesota Department of Human Services released a memorandum on its investigation into Stepping Stones Early Learning Center for an incident that happened back in April.

They determined physical abuse occurred by a staff member, along with neglect by the facility for failing to provide accurate information to the family for more than 18 hours.

According to the report, a staff member ‘heard and felt a crack in the alleged victim’s right leg’ while changing the baby’s diaper.

The staff member said s/he ‘maybe applied a little too much pressure’ but initially told coworkers a ‘lie because s/he was worried and caught off guard.’

When the facility contacted the family, they told them the child ‘fell while attempting to pull him/herself to standing.’

According to the DHS memorandum, the staff member told supervisors the truth about what happened during the diaper change an hour after the incident, but no one provided that information to the family until more than 18 hours later.

The report states: ‘This delay resulted in the alleged victim not receiving professional medical care for over 18 hours.’

When the family took the child to the doctor, they learned the right thigh bone was broken.

The baby had to be put under general anesthesia so the broken bone could be manipulated back into place and then put in a spica cast, beginning at the chest and extending all the way down the fractured leg.

According to the report, the doctor who treated the child said ‘breaking a child’s femur would take excessive force’ and is ‘not something that would occur during routine care.’

“It’s absolutely heartbreaking this family has to go through this,” said Nicole Carle, whose son used to attend day care at Stepping Stones.

She said she pulled him out of the facility amid concerns over how he was being treated.

“When I read the report yesterday, I was sick to my stomach. It’s not the place for you to work in a day care if children are that frustrating or if you get that heightened or reactive towards them,” Carle said.

This is now the second major day care abuse case 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has covered this week.

In Blaine, two women are facing multiple felonies for malicious punishment and assault on three babies at Small World Learning Center.

RELATED: Blaine police say day care workers were ‘aggressively abusing children’

“It’s just terrible what has happened,” said Rep. Nolan West, who represents the Blaine area.

West said his daughter was one of the victims in that case.

“It never even occurs to you that the caretaker’s going to abuse your child,” West said. “It is just ridiculous that this has happened and hearing from so many families across the state is just depressing.”

The Minnesota Department of Human Services told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS it received 304 maltreatment complaints related to licensed child care centers last year and that, upon investigation, 95 of those had at least one of their allegations substantiated.

West said he is going to push for new legislation at the State Capitol when it comes to day care abuse, including harsher penalties for offenders.

He also wants to see video cameras required at all day care facilities, with footage retained for an extended period of time.

“When you have cameras in there, you can verify what’s going on. Cameras are extra important when the child can’t tell you what’s going on,” West said.

There were cameras at the Stepping Stones facility, which were accessed during the DHS investigation.

Stepping Stones Early Learning Center provided 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS this statement:

“Stepping Stones Early Learning Center was made aware of a situation involving a child with a possible broken bone that was in its care. The incident primarily involved the conduct of a single employee caregiver who is no longer employed by Stepping Stones.

Within 24 hours of learning of the matter, Stepping Stones self-reported the incident to the   Minnesota Department of Human Services (“DHS”). Since that time, Stepping Stones has fully cooperated with DHS regarding its investigation of the matter and will continue to do so.

Recently, just two days ago, late in the day on July 24, 2024, DHS notified Stepping Stones of the results of its investigation. Specifically, DHS issued a Determination of Maltreatment and Order to Pay a Fine along with a Correction Order. This was the first notice Stepping Stones received since its self-report that DHS had completed its investigation and reached its conclusions.

The proposed fine is $1,000.00 and DHS ordered certain corrective steps such as, for example, re-training of employees with regards to proper hand washing procedures and diaper changing procedures. Stepping Stones will fully comply with the required corrective actions as soon as practicable on the timetable required by DHS.

The safety of the children in Stepping Stones’ care is, always has been, and will continue to be, its number one priority. Stepping Stones regrets that this incident occurred, but it took all proper steps to alert DHS about this serious event in its self-report and took other prompt remedial measures to address the situation. Stepping Stones strongly believes this was a truly isolated incident that does not in any way reflect Stepping Stones’ values and its commitment to providing top notch child care as we have done during our nearly 18 year existence.

We welcome any parent to contact Stepping Stones to discuss their specific concerns on a one-on-one basis.”