Excerpt

A Barrie childcare centre has confirmed it is reviewing allegations of inappropriate conduct by an educator following complaints from parents who reported their children were assaulted in July and August.

BrightPath Early Learning and Child Care said an internal review is underway after it received a complaint on Aug. 7 that a four-year-old girl was flicked in the nose and mouth by her educator and sprayed with a bottle containing cleaning products.

“I think that was the part that really got to me, was that someone was there and saw this happen and didn’t say anything,” said the little girl’s mother, Cristina Pedano.

It was back in August when Cristina and her husband, Jeff Pedano, said their four-year-old daughter told them an unusual story about what happened to her at daycare.

“She approached me and said, ‘You know, he sprayed me in the face with a water bottle,’” said Jeff Pedano. “So, I said, ‘Well, why did he spray you in the face? Was in an accident? Was he cleaning something?’ She said, ‘No, he sprayed me because I was misbehaving during nap time, and he also flicked me in the face.’”

After their child demonstrated how she had been flicked in the face, the Pedanos reported the incident to BrightPath and the authorities, prompting an investigation by Simcoe Muskoka Family Connexions, whom the Pedanos said found the spray bottle used on their daughter contained either soap and water or water and bleach.

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