Sending your child out into the world for the first time as a parent can be a nerve-wracking experience. You know that people in the world aren’t likely to take care of your child in the way you would. But you just hope and pray they don’t cause any significant harm to your child. Sadly, one Wisconsin mother encountered just that when her 1-year-old son was left alone in the dark at his day care.
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When Kendra Jordan went to pick up her son, the doors to the building were locked.
Kendra dropped her son Kay’vontae off at Amazing Mays Childcare in Milwaukee on Thursday afternoon. When she returned to pick him up at 11:30 p.m., she found most of the lights were off, the doors were locked, and she could hear her son crying inside through a cracked window, CBS 58 reported. Jordan tried to call someone inside, but no one answered.
“It’s shocking, it’s traumatizing, it’s stressful, and it’s emotional," Jordan told CBS 58.
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It took 35 to 45 minutes before Jordan was reunited with her son.
Unable to reach anyone, Jordan called the police. Officers arrived on the scene and were finally able to reach the day care owner, 35 to 45 minutes after “the whole situation started,” Jordan said. It took even more time for the owner to arrive at the child care center and bring Kay’vontae out safely.
“So many thoughts were running through my mind because so many kids every day coming up missing, so many kids every day coming up deceased," Jordan recalled. “I just hugged him and I cried.”
Both Jordan and her son are dealing with the aftermath of the incident.
Jordan says that while Kay’vontae was unharmed physically, he’s become clingier since the incident and has been having trouble sleeping. Jordan is also dealing with her own trauma after the incident.
“Everyone is referring me to their day care and it’s like if I can’t call him 24/7 to see if he’s okay, I don’t even want to put him in there,” she explained. “Like I can’t trust day cares no more. That was a very scary experience, like I honestly thought I lost my baby.”
Jordan is currently looking for legal counsel.
Since the incident, Jordan filed a police report and is seeking legal representation. The day care has closed indefinitely while police continue their investigation. Jordan says she would like the day care owner and whoever was working that evening to take full responsibility so this doesn’t happen to another parent or child.
The day care owner issued a statement about the incident on Facebook.
The owner of the day care released a statement via Facebook where they did accept responsibility for the action and apologized to Jordan’s family, along with the other families affected by the day care’s closure.
“As the owner and operator of Amazing Mays Childcare, I take accountability for this terrible incident,” the owner wrote. “At Amazing Mays, we take pride in providing the best care and attention to our children and ensuring a safe and fun environment. As unfortunate as this situation is we are forced to do an immediate closure during the investigation process. We do not have a time limit or direction to where this situation may lead AMCC but we are truly thankful for the families we served in the past 7 years. We are all devastated at this situation and praying that our families find a nice secure daycare for the children in the mean time.”
