Daycare busted for locking tots in shed
Another day, another daycare scandal. This one was in Texas, where two daycare operators are now behind bars for locking children in a shed, which contained gasoline, lawn equipment and insecticides.
Freddie Patek and his wife Marietta Patek, both 65, ran the facility in their home in Sealy in Austin County, where they were authorized to care for only three children at a time, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Acting on a tip, state child welfare inspectors visited the home on Wednesday and found 14 children, ranging in age from infants to preteens. Six of them were in a shed, although it was unclear if they were commonly warehoused there, or if the Pateks were just trying to hide the kids there from the inspectors.
Freddie was charged with tampering with physical evidence for trying to hide the extra little ones, and Marietta was charged with six counts of endangering a child. Fortunately, no one was injured. The center has been shutdown pending the investigation.
Josh Romo, the father of a two-year-old who was found in the shed, said that he had wondered why his daughter sometimes dreaded going to the daycare: “Now we know.”
