WALLINGFORD — A Wallingford family wants answers after their three-year-old girl was left behind locked inside a daycare Tuesday.
Around 6:30 p.m. on February 14, police were called to the YMCA Daycare on the Choate Campus. Timothy McWade told police his daughter was left inside the building unattended in a bathroom and that all the workers had left.
When police arrived, the little girl and her mother were sitting inside their car. McWade told police he arrived at the daycare to pick up his daughter at 6 p.m. and noticed their were no employees inside the building but the lights were on.
He looked inside the building and saw his daughter’s coat and lunch bag still there. He then got the code for the front door so he could go inside. That’s when he found his daughter in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet, waiting for help.
Officers say they conducted an investigation and spoke with those involved. The investigation concluded there was a breakdown of internal procedures, and the child was not intentionally left behind.
“While the situation is one of an alarming nature, it does not rise to the level of criminal conduct,” said Lt. Cheryl Bradley.
The Department of Children and Families, along with the Office of Early Childhood, who oversee daycare licensing, are conducting an investigation.
