A mother was appalled to discover her young daughter was left alone outside in the Georgia heat at a Peachtree City day care. Pamela Johnson claims staff at Fayette Early Learning Academy left her daughter, Temperance, 2, unattended on the playground and didn't realize it until the mother notified them. Johnson reported checking the center's surveillance camera footage and saw her son inside but not her daughter.
Per Fox 5, the child was allegedly outside, and a teacher admitted to leaving her and was terminated. Johnson now fears leaving her children in anyone else's care.
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The eagle-eyed mother noticed her daughter was missing.
Johnson explained to Fox 5 that she and her family recently relocated to the Atlanta area from Chicago. She chose that day care for her children because of its surveillance camera system. She was checking the cameras around lunchtime on July 23 and easily spotted her son, who's 1, but Temperance wasn't there. The mother contacted the day care for answers.
Temperance was allegedly seen on camera alone.
Fox 5 obtained video footage from the day care that reportedly shows Temperance playing outside on the playground alone about 11:55 a.m. According to the news station, it was in the high 80s at the time, with a heat index of 95 degrees. A staff member reportedly told Johnson her daughter was alone for 35 minutes.
Johnson said her daughter appeared overcome by the heat.
"You can see my daughter trying to walk to get to the gate or the door, and she collapses. She falls," the distraught mother told Fox 5.
When she arrived to pick up Temperance, Johnson claimed she discovered Fayette Early Learning Academy did not get her daughter medical attention and she took her to the emergency room herself hours later.
The day care's director had a different story.
The center's director, Melissa Staples, told Fox 5 in a statement about the incident that Temperance was not in distress.
"At no point in time was the child in distress or exhibited any signs of needing medical attention. The child was brought inside and provided with water and a popsicle," Staples explained.
She added that the teacher is no longer employed at the day care center. "The teacher responsible for said child was terminated immediately … teachers are expected to do head counts anytime they leave the classroom," Staples noted.
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Johnson removed her children from the day care center.
Staples claimed she contacted Johnson multiple times to discuss what happened, but the mother did not answer.
Johnson told Fox 5 that she is hesitant to put her children back into the care of a day care facility but plans to enroll them at a different place. She chose Fayette Early Learning Academy because of its advanced technology but was left disappointed.
"This day care had cameras, and you still lost my child," she said.
