The state has temporarily closed a Kanawha County child care facility due to evidence of physical abuse of children that first surfaced on social media.
Parents say the closure, announced Sunday, comes months after they notified Child Protective Services about mistreatment allegations at Cross Lanes Child Care and Learning Center. Nothing came of the reports, they said.
As a Department of Human Services investigation of the day care is ongoing, parents said the state’s response was prompted by a viral Facebook post, made by a parent. It included audio that allegedly captured an employee of Cross Lanes Child Care and Learning Center spitting on a 4-year-old girl.
“Without everybody sharing it on social media, I don’t think that we would be here today,” said
Ashley Shaffer, who made the Facebook post on Oct. 24. Shaffer said local police and DoHS failed to respond to her allegations of abuse.
Several parents are suing the day care, announcing the lawsuit on Monday along with a string of child abuse allegations — including spanking, a black eye and spitting — that they say happened at the day care.
An employee, Amber Seiler, is facing child abuse charges, including allegations that she smacked a disabled child.
Tiffani Myers is a mother of a child who used to attend the day care and previously worked there.
“My son has autism and was abused by Amber,” she said. “When I spoke with CPS, nothing was done about it.”
DoHS, which oversees CPS, announced on Oct. 27 that the day care was under investigation and on a provisional license status. This followed “evidence of violations concerning both physical and psychological punishment of children and a failure to meet mandatory reporting and supervisory standards,” according to a news release.
DoHS spokesperson Angelica Hightower said in an email on Monday that the investigation has been underway since the department discovered the allegations made on social media Oct. 28.
In response to a question about whether there were any previous CPS reports about the day care, Hightower responded, “It is premature to provide any additional information at this time. Once these investigations are completed, the DoHS will release any additional information or actions as appropriate.”
DoHS has faced criticism for failing to follow up on allegations of child abuse and neglect in its overwhelmed foster care system.
Michael Cary, an attorney representing the parents, said that the state should be held accountable for its role in allowing the day care to remain open despite previous alleged CPS reports.
“There’s no justice. I think it’s only a temporary closure because of the media attention, because of the Facebook comments,” he said. “We’re going to make sure there’s accountability.”
Cary previously sued the day care’s owner, Amy Williams, in 2021 after a video allegedly showed former employee Jacklyn Williams grabbing a 2-year-old’s face and neck. A West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources official in 2021 said a report of abuse was unsubstantiated.
[When] that suit ended, DHHR then was going to follow up and investigate this day care. That was how that was left,” Cary said. “Obviously, DoHS has not done the right thing, and there’s been [a] tremendous oversight that’s caused this problem.”
He continued, “We have workers at the day care that waited several months to report the abuse, even though they’re mandatory reporters.”
Parents and guardians of eight children are expected to file lawsuits against the day care’s owner, according to Cary.
The first suit, filed Monday in Kanawha County Circuit Court, alleged that a child was made to pull their pants and underwear down so that Seiler could spank them. It also alleged Seiler yelled and screamed at the children in her classroom.
“When my child was being interviewed by the CPS investigator, and the things that she was saying were happening, and it’s just unfathomable,” said Darrel Feater, who filed the suit. “This place needs to be shut down.”
DoHS reminded parents and the public to report any concerns of abuse or neglect directly to the Centralized Intake for Abuse and Neglect by calling 1-800-352-6513.
“Direct reporting allows DoHS to promptly address concerns through official channels rather than through social media, ensuring that any allegations are appropriately investigated,” a news release said.
DoHS recently made changes to its Centralized Intake for Abuse and Neglect after concerns about how the department handled the apparent starvation death of 14-year-old Kyneddi Miller in Boone County.
More than 4,800 calls were made to the CPS intake system in September, according to department data.
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