Daycare Worker Charged with Assault and Child Endangerment After 4-Year-Old Came Home with a Broken Collarbone By Kimberlee Speakman

An Ohio daycare worker has been charged after allegedly injuring a 4-year-old child in her care.

Mary Stewart, 48, has been charged with felonious assault and endangering children, according to Willoughby Municipal Court documents viewed by PEOPLE.

The charges followed an investigation by Willowick police in June after a 4-year-old came home from daycare with a broken collarbone the month prior, according to WJW-TV. 

The child’s mother, Alexis Higham, told the outlet that the daycare called her in May and informed her that her daughter “tripped and fell over a cot.” However, the 4-year-old told her a different story, saying that a woman at the facility grabbed her by the arm and roughly tossed her onto a cot. 

“When I went to pick her up, you could tell that she was really hurt,” Higham recalled.

“The X-rays came through, and they said that she had a broken clavicle bone,” she continued. “We were in the ER for five hours.”

Higham told WJW-TV that as a result of the incident, her child no longer goes to that daycare facility, which has not been identified. Police launched an investigation into the incident that resulted in charges being filed against Stewart.

Stewart pleaded not guilty, and her case was sent to the Lake County Grand Jury to determine if she would be indicted on those charges, per the outlet.  

PEOPLE has reached out to the Willowick Police Department (WPD) and Stewart’s attorney for comment on the case. 

As for Higham, she has filed a lawsuit in Lake County Common Pleas Court against Stewart and the daycare, per WJW-TV. 

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Higham claimed, per the outlet, that the daycare did not have any “working security cameras” inside the facility when the incident happened to her daughter and that the daycare “failed to ensure the safety of the children.” 

“I wanted to speak out because just staying silent only protects the abusers,” she told WJW-TV.

Higham’s attorney, Marco Bocciarelli, echoed her sentiments, saying, “It’s important that we make sure these facilities are learning a lesson and not just the people that are working there. I think it’s a systemic issue that we have to deal with.”

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.