ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County day care is accused of leaving an autistic boy alone in a van.
The 4-year-old’s mom said it happened Tuesday at Aloma Kids Academy near Semoran Boulevard.
“If it had not been cold yesterday, my son would not be here,” said the boy’s mother, Maria Cabo. “This is every mom’s worst fear.”
Cabo said the van picked up her son Enrique at about 3 p.m. Tuesday and drove him to Aloma Kids Academy but the child was never brought inside.
The day care’s director said the child was checked off on the attendance list because the driver picked the child up in the van at school, but the driver didn’t know the child was asleep in the back of the van.
The director said it was an accident and the child went unnoticed because there were several other children in the van.
She said the child was in the van for an hour, but the driver is still going to be suspended. All drivers are going to get retrained.
“We were inside and then I turn around and the woman that picked him up from school was holding my child in her arms and his face was beet red, and he was screaming,” said Cabo.
The Sheriff’s Office has not released the incident report, but the Department of Children and Families said it is investigating.
The facility has had four minor violations in the past couple years.
One was for not keeping proper records for one of the drivers.
Cabo is happy her son is OK, but she still wants to press charges.
“The next child won’t be as lucky,” she said.
The day care’s director said she offered to pay for any medical expenses and waived the cost for the day care.
WFTV
