Lone Tree daycare is once again facing allegations of child abuse

A Lone Tree daycare center with a history of allegations of child abuse and neglect is under renewed scrutiny amid reports of teachers abusing children in their care.

The latest findings from state inspectors come less than a year after Crème de la Crème, 7550 Park Meadows Drive, was placed on years-long probation. It is not yet clear what impact the new charges will have on the daycare’s ability to continue operating.

In May the Colorado Department of Early Childhood According to one state, an employee hit a child in the back of the head inspection report. The state also found that teachers had shaken and yelled at children and used “physical discipline” as a form of guidance.

Further inspection by state investigators found that a staff member made “inappropriate and derogatory comments” to a child and had children stand with their noses against the wall in time-out.

The Department of Early Childhood, which did not respond to requests for comment from JS, forced the daycare to submit written statements of compliance. Online records do not show whether the facility has already done so.

The following month, Lone Tree police responded to the daycare after a report of child abuse. Parents told officers that a teacher hit their child three times in the arm and again in the face because the child was not listening, according to a June 10 police report.

The child “said she was crying because it hurt when she was hit,” the report said.

The parents went to the police, authorities said, because they felt that Crème de la Crème was not taking the report seriously. The teacher, the parents said, was “very dismissive, defensive and said nothing had happened.”

After a complaint from the parents, the daycare center placed the teacher on administrative leave pending the investigation.

The police ultimately made no arrests and transferred the investigation to the police Colorado Department of Human Services. The officer noted that police were aware of 44 previous reports to Human Services about Crème de la Crème.

“I have again requested that the licensing department be involved and conduct a thorough investigation of the facility,” the officer wrote in the report.

JamieDay Montgomery, spokesperson for KinderCare, the parent company that owns Crème de la Crème, said the teacher who struck the child in the back of the head has been fired. The children’s center trains school staff in the correct guidance of children.

“Nothing is more important to us than the safety of the children in our care,” Montgomery said.

Crème de la Crème had been on probation with the state for years due to repeated allegations of child abuse and neglect, The Post reported last year. The state finally granted the center a permanent permit in November.

At least two teachers at Lone Tree daycare have previously been the subject of police investigations into allegations of injuring children, The Post has learned. One employee pleaded guilty last year to child abuse after pulling a baby’s hair and threatening to choke and stab children during moments of frustration.