Toddler Dakota Boggess Injured at Daycare in Richardson, TX

RICHARDSON, TX (02/17/2016) — A North Texas daycare, Armadillos To Zebras, is under investigation after a toddler, Dakota Boggess, was left seriously bruised while in their care.

The Armadillos To Zebras daycare (on West Spring Valley Road in Richardson, Texas) is currently under investigation after 1-year-old Dakota Boggess was left with purple and red marks on his face, resembling a handprint.

On Monday, 21-year-old Elizabeth O'Rear was told her son was struck by a 2-year-old child, however, the incident report provided by the facility stated that the toddler fell and hit his face on a toy.

"I understand, kids get hurt at daycare," she said. "[His face] was just red and puffy, so I didn't know anything had happened."

According to O'Rear, the marks look like a hand print larger than a child's hand, leading her to believe that an adult may have been responsible for mark on her son's face.

O'Rear took her son to a nearby emergency room for an evaluation and contacted the Richardson Police Department to file a complaint. She does not believe the explanation provided to her makes sense, considering the nature of the mark.

“It started to look more like a hand and I called my mom and I told her this sort of looks funny to me,” she said.

The North Texas mother even took to social media by creating a Facebook post, which included pictures of her child's bruised face. In 2 days, the post has been shared over 80,000 times.

"I want them to be able to show me this is the toy that he fell on, or the kid hit him with this toy," O'Rear said. "I hope that is the story, but right now, to me, it looks like it is the hand print."

After three days, O'Rear states that the hand print is still visible. Barring an acceptable explanation, O'Rear will not return her son Dakota to the daycare.

When prompted for questioning by NBC, the daycare facility declined an interview. However, the owners did mention that the caretaker involved in the incident is no longer employed with the company.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is currently conducting an investigation, which could take up to 30 days.

“I don’t want people to be punished that don’t need to be punished and if nobody really did hit him… Well, I just want the truth to come out,” said O’Rear.

Commentary

This is such a sad story. Seeing those marks on a one-year-old's face makes me sick to my stomach. I don't want to jump to conclusions here, but from what's been reported, I would definitely have some very big concerns. The mother was originally told another child hit him? Then the actual report says he "fell" onto a toy and hurt himself? Now they say the daycare worker involved is no longer with the company? I'm sorry, but to me, that's a pretty clear indicator that there's more to the story.

Is this facility equipped with video cameras? If so, I hope they haven't been erased. I'm happy to see that DFPS is conducting an investigation, but as that could take 30 days, I hope the parents aren't waiting on the results before considering their options.

Related: Daycare Abuse