An Illinois day care worker was busted on child endangerment charges for allegedly leaving a 4-year-old boy in her care in a freezing alley before planting him in a trash can.
Anna Petrou, 58, was arrested on Thursday for placing the toddler in a corridor outside The Learning Lab Preschool & Childcare in Homewood for about 20 seconds when he refused to take a nap, according to the Homewood Police Department.
Police said it was about 19 degrees on the afternoon of Jan. 13 when the incident occurred.
The alleged bad teacher was captured on video surveillance bringing the child back into the facility and putting him inside the empty garbage bin as a form of punishment in front of other kids and teachers, police said.
The boy’s parents reported the incident to police after they picked up their son from day care that day, ABC 7 reported.
“I had no words, especially when I reviewed the tape,” his mother, Monica Forte, told the outlet, adding that her son has been clingy since the incident.
“And my first thing was, of course, I’m crying. And I went to the police station.”
She slammed Petrou, who claimed her form of discipline was a joke, for failing to de-escalate the situation properly. Forte said her children will not be returning to the day care center and she is considering legal action.
“He did nothing wrong,” father Justin Barnes told the outlet.
“It was just way worse than I could imagine. I’m worried about what he feels.”
Petrou was charged with endangering the life of a child, a misdemeanor, and was released from custody pending a future court date, authorities said.
The crazed caretaker was also fired from the school, along with a second employee who officials say failed to intervene.
“We tried to work cooperatively and transparently with the family. We are working with our licensing agency, DCFS and the Homewood police,” Learning Lab said in a statement to the outlet.
“We have shared additional information we became aware of yesterday because we believe it warranted further investigation and possible action against the person who did this. We have also fired a second employee who failed to intervene.”
