A parent of an immuno-compromised infant has filed a lawsuit against convicted child abuser Heather Ward and her former employer, the Berlin Activities Depot, over alleged mistreatment of her child.
The Berlin Activities Depot is pictured.
File photo
By Stewart Dobson, Editor
Legal difficulties continue to mount for convicted child abuser Heather Ward and her former employer, the Berlin Activities Depot, as the parent of a child in Ward’s care at the daycare center is suing both parties for what she says was the mistreatment of her immuno-compromised infant.
The lawsuit, filed by Kearston Cox of Pocomoke City on Sept. 5 in Worcester County Circuit Court, seeks $30,000 on each of five counts of mistreatment and negligence in caring for her one-year-old daughter. The daughter is listed as a plaintiff in the case as well.
Named as defendants in the suit are Ward, 40, of Berlin, and her employer, Twisters Inc., the parent company of the Berlin Activities Depot, which houses a daycare center.
The suit contends that Ward, a daycare provider at the center, ignored specific training provided to the staff on how to care for an infant fitted with a G-Tube (gastrostomy tube) in her stomach and that Twisters allowed it to happen.
A G-Tube is used in babies and small children to help them breathe and to prevent them from aspirating their food because of their difficulty swallowing.
Because of that circumstance, Cox asserts that a nurse was brought to the center to show caretakers how to handle the infant when the G-Tube was inserted and she was receiving tube feedings. Those instructions, the suit continues, included a strong caution against placing the infant face down or with her face covered by a blanket.
According to the complaint, however, a video recording of Ward showed that she “forcefully threw her (the infant) down into a crib face down, covered her head in a blanket, ignored her cries, and left her in that position, completely ignoring the clear instructions she had been supposedly trained on.”
In addition, the suit says Ward would “forcefully yank [the infant] by her arm and forcefully bend her legs at the knees, and feet back to her ankles, causing [her] to experience severe pain and/or discomfort, and causing her to audibly scream and cry.”
The plaintiff also argues that even though these actions were taken in front of other employees and clients at the daycare, no one “ever reported Defendant Ward’s abusive and aggressive behavior to anyone at Defendant Twisters’ Daycare.”
According to the lawsuit, the consequences of these alleged actions were that the child suffered “great physical pain and has since suffered developmental setbacks causing her to incur disabilities” that are likely to continue.
The suit accuses Ward of one count each of battery and negligence. It also asks the court to find Twisters Inc. guilty of negligence, of being liable for the Ward’s actions and being liable for the actions of other unknown employees who “repeatedly failed to observe, report, and not engage in physically abusive behavior occurring at the Daycare.
Ward is awaiting sentencing on nine counts of child abuse involving nine children in her care at the center, after pleading guilty to those charges in circuit court on Aug. 19. Another 81 charges were not prosecuted as part of a deal with the state’s attorney’s office that allowed Ward to enter an “Alford plea,” in which the accused does not admit guilt but acknowledges that the state has sufficient evidence to convict.
Two other former employees of the center, which is owned by Carmella and Mark Solito, of Berlin, have been charged with similar offenses following a pair of investigations, one by the county sheriff’s office and another by the Berlin Police Department.
As a result of the sheriff’s office’s investigation into Ward’s conduct, investigators in June arrested daycare classroom worker Catherine Deutsch, 32, of Ocean Pines on 11 charges of failure to report child abuse and four counts of neglect. An Oct. 2 circuit court trial has been ordered in that case
That initial examination of incidents at the center began last November after the mother of an eight-month-old reported that her child had suffered a broken tibia. Video obtained by investigators showed Ward’s rough handling of that child and several others.
On Aug. 26, Berlin police, acting on a complaint by a parent, charged Lionel Evans, 57, of Princess Anne, with second-degree assault and second-degree child in connection with an Aug. 13 playground incident. In that instance, Evans is accused of grabbing a 4-year-old by the neck to prevent him from running toward the playground equipment.
When apprised of the situation involving Ward, Carmella Solito said, “We are deeply disturbed and horrified by the circumstances involving the recent arrest of a former employee. The accusations profoundly conflict with our core values and longstanding commitment to providing a safe and nurturing environment for all children in our care. We have zero tolerance for any abuse or mistreatment of children. Their safety and well-being are our absolute top priority.”