Day care where child was hurt issued citations

SORRENTO, Fla. — The Florida Department of Children and Families has issued three citations against the Children's House of Learning in Sorrento. The facility could now face fines for not reporting the alleged abuse in April.

Surveillance video showed a teacher pulling a chair from underneath a 4-year-old boy. The boy fell out of the chair and appeared to hit his head on the floor and cry, according to Lake County court documents.

On Friday, the father of that boy spoke to Channel 9’s Julie Salomone. He told Eyewitness News he hadn’t seen the video until it was on WFTV’s newscast.

“Obviously there was a little bit of anger, obviously sadness. I mean we entrusted this day care to protect our son while my wife and I both work, yet they failed to do so,” said father Joseph Honka.

“Obviously there was a little bit of anger, obviously sadness. I mean we entrusted this day care to protect our son while my wife and I both work, yet they failed to do so,” said father Joseph Honka.

Belina Greer, 57, was arrested on child abuse charges. She told investigators it wasn’t intentional when she pulled the chair from underneath the boy.

The child wasn’t seriously hurt, but the family told Eyewitness they have hired attorney, Matt Morgan. The family said they don’t plan to file a lawsuit, but said they’re exploring all legal options.

“So that's where we come in. Kind of highlight the failures in this particular incident and then figuring out a way to hold them accountable,” Morgan said.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said the child's parents weren't told about the situation until DCF got involved. An anonymous tip came into DCF about the April incident.

“Without that anonymous tip, they would have never reviewed the video and day care probably never would have told us, and (it) would have been swiped right under the rug,” Honka said.

Eyewitness News reached out to the day care for comment, but the calls were not returned.

Court documents said the teacher was moved to another location

Cox Media Group