DCF investigating if infant was burned at day care

Workers at the Clarcona Academy Child Care Center say they made a horrifying discovery when they went to change a 2-month-old's diaper Thursday morning.
    
They saw severe burns down his entire right leg.

The baby boy was taken to Winnie Palmer Children's Hospital and admitted overnight.

The child's father was contacted, and told Orlando police the boy was fine when he dropped him off.

The Department of Children and Families called in their child protection team.

"Those are a team of doctors that can look at physical injuries to a child figure out how it happened, (and) when it took place,” said Carrie Hoeppner, a DCF spokeswoman. “They can also help us figure out if it was something accidental or purposely inflicted."

So far, no charges have been filed.

Investigators said they have to look at the day care, parents and anyone else who was alone with the child.

The parents have no prior history with DCF, but the day care does.

Records show the day care is operating under a provisional license not because of any complaints of abuse, but because of the number of children versus adults and possible problems with the grounds.

Licensing specialists returned to the day care Friday to look for any glaring safety concerns.

The center's director declined our request for an interview at the advice of an attorney, but said parents had been notified of the incident.

One parent dropping off her daughter said she wasn't concerned.

“It's an excellent day care," said Erica, a parent. "My daughter loves it. She feels like she's at home, so I doubt it. They watch the kids pretty well."

Whether the parents will be able to keep custody of the child during the investigation remains to be seen.

"I’m not going to speculate what's going to happen to the child in the next few hours or next few days,” Hoeppner said. “Absolutely we are going to make sure this child is in a safe environment."

If you would like to know if your child's day care has any complaints against it, you can get a detailed history at http://dcfsanswrite.state.fl.us/Childcare/provider/.