SOUTH WINDSOR -- A popular daycare in South Windsor remains open despite allegations of abuse.
According to the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood, Mother Goose had chosen to surrender its licenses and the office has accepted that surrender in lieu of bringing charges. The business will soon transition to a new operator.
The Connecticut Office of Early Childhood said that the current management of the Mother Goose Children’s Center will continue to oversee childcare until September 28th, but they’ll be largely under the supervision of the state who will be performing what they call “enhanced monitoring” of the facility.
The abuse allegations date back to April.
Office of Early Childhood Commissioner David Wilkinson said he couldn’t discuss the specific nature of the allegations because of a pending DCF investigation and possible police investigation, but he did say it involved a childcare teacher being too aggressive. He said as a mandated reporter, it was never reported.
"These allegations were serious. A child care teacher was over aggressive with child. It was reported to management and management didn’t report that to the child welfare authorities," said Commissioner Wilkinson.
"Management knowing what it knew and not necessarily knowing everything that there was to know, did not perceive that the underlying conduct of the employee who no longer works there and who was hands on with the children was of such significance as to warrant reporting," said Atty. Steven Seligman of Katz and Seligman.
Seligman, who represents Mother Goose, called the source of the allegations "suspect."
"I was kind of shocked. It’s had such a good reputation in our town. We’ve been a resident of our town for all of our lives and we’ve always had good things happen in this town and when we heard that it was shocking, like I said. My brother went there and he had a great experience," said Dianne Grimaldi of South Windsor.
The owners and management of Mother Goose have never admitted to the allegations. Their lawyer said they agreed to surrender their license because of what he calls the time consuming and expensive defense of these allegations and the undue burden he says it would place on management.
The office of Early Childhood did say that the inspection record at Mother Goose has been otherwise very good during their more than 45 years in business. Mother Goose cares for about 130 kids.