The family of a two-year-old has spoken out against a Maryland daycare center after staff allegedly tied the toddler to a chair, as shown in footage posted online.
The Kids Villa Learning Center in Germantown, Maryland, posted a video of the little ones in their care at a table celebrating one of the children's birthday.
When she watched the clip, Ruby Campbell was appalled to see her grandson Sean restrained to a chair with a towel.
The concerned grandmother got in contact with the two staff members who were in the classroom at the time of the incident.
They were said to have informed her that Sean was not sitting still, and so they tied a towel around him to restrain him.
"He was [in] no way acting any different from any normal two-and-a-half-year-old would act," Campbell told FOX 5.
"In the video, you could see there are other kids standing up. There are other kids moving around. So, I'm not going to say that he was acting unruly. I'm saying he's acting like a two-and-a-half-year-old would act."
The footage has since been taken down and the two staff members involved in the incident have been removed from the classroom for an indefinite period of time.
The center's director told the outlet that it does not have a policy on restraining children in their care.
It was reported that Campbell shared the damning footage with the daycare boss, who said she was said to be stunned by what she had seen.
"We showed the video to the daycare director, and she was shocked too." Campbell told FOX 5. "She couldn't believe what she was seeing too."
The family of the child who was restrained filed a complaint with child protective services and a police report. However, authorities have stated that the incident is not under investigation as an incident of criminal activity as the towel did not bruise Sean or cause any other physical harm.
Sean has since been relocated to another daycare center and his grandmother said he will not be returning to Kids Villa.
The incident received a mixed response online, with one person commenting: "I don’t see the problem, if a kid won’t sit down whats wrong with tying him/her up???"
Another added: "Ya, I would have loved to do that to my kids on more than one occasion."
Over on Facebook, a concerned commenter wrote: "I think they need to put cameras an audio in every day care center."
A differerent person penned: "Parents and child care workers need skills. These can be taught. No excuses!"
The Daily Mail reports that two of the daycare's workers have been suspended indefinitely following the alarming incident, with the center's director insisting that no child should not be restrained.
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