'Toddler Fight Club' Allegedly Run Out Of Delaware Day Care Center; 3 Employees Arrested
A Delaware day care center that allegedly ran a "toddler fight club" has had its license suspended after its employees were accused of forcing children to attack each other.
The employees who allegedly organized the toddler fight club -- Tiana Harris, 19; Lisa Parker, 47; and Estefania Myers, 21 -- were arrested on charges of assault, endangering the welfare of a child, reckless endangerment and conspiracy for the incident that took place in March at Our Future Daycare in Dover, Del., CBS Philly reported.
The women were released Tuesday afternoon when they posted $10,000 bond, the station reported.
Video of the toddlers fighting was taken with a cell phone, according to CBS Philly. The footage allegedly shows a child complaining of being pinched and one of the day care employees saying, "No pinching, only punching."
"Clearly one of the children is crying and does not want to continue on and he is pushed back into the fray by one of the adults," Dover Police Capt. Tim Stump told CBS Philly.
Stump told Fox News the video of the toddler fight club was disturbing.
"It was a difficult video to watch," he told Fox News. "One of the kids involved ran over to one of the adults for protection, but she turned him around back into the fight."
The toddlers who were encouraged to fight each other did not suffer any serious physical injuries from the attacks, Fox News reported, but the video was "painfully clear that they were hurting each other."
"The bottom line is that the kids were whaling on each other and the adults were doing nothing to stop it," Stump told the network. "In fact, they were egging it on."
The allegations that a toddler fight club was being run out of the day care shocked parents who sent their children to Our Future.
"That pissed me off just because I feel if my daughter is around anything I should have known that day," said Cristyl Slack, whose 4-year-old daughter was in the room when the fights were taking place, according to CBS Philly.
"I can't ever believe in a million years. I mean I would have to see the proof to believe it," parent Amy Bickling told the station.
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