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State orders emergency closure of day care center where 1-year-old was injured

Posted at 1:17 PM, May 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-02 15:17:05-04

INDIANAPOLIS – The state of Indiana has called for the emergency closure of a day care center after a mother says her 1-year-old son was severely injured.

The Family and Social Services Administration delivered the emergency closure letter to Kiddiegarden day care on Tuesday.

Monday night, Tiffany Griffin contacted WXIN after receiving a call from a day care worker about her injured child. When Griffin arrived, she found her 1-year-old son Jesse had cuts to his face. His eyes and his lips were swollen.

Griffin said she was told another child was responsible for the injuries, but she didn’t believe that.

"It's no way a baby, a 2-year-old and that baby was small and she didn't look like she was the violent type, and her mom said she wasn't the violent type. Her mom said scratches her baby might do, but when she saw that picture she started crying and said her baby wouldn't do anything like that," Griffin said.

The emergency closure applies only to the location at 38th Street, according to FSSA officials. Other locations from the same owner are under separate licenses.

The day care owner issued a statement Tuesday saying the day care has “been diligently working with law enforcement, child protective services, as well as state agencies on this matter” as the investigation continues. The owner described the incident as a “truly a sad, shocking and unfortunate event.”

Here’s more from the statement:

"We have been fully cooperative and transparent with law enforcement to complete their investigation. Our hearts go out to Jesse and his family and are praying for his well-being. Due to this still being an ongoing investigation, we are not at liberty to disclose any further details. We have confidence in the detectives who are handling the investigation to give us a final report of the incident, which we will make public. At that time we will make another statement addressing the matter."

During an off-camera conversation, officials with Kiddiegarden said they were confident they would be able to prove a child was responsible for Jesse’s injuries.