Horrified
parents allegedly witnessed children as young as five being beaten in an
unlicensed Romanian kindergarten after staff forgot to turn off CCTV
cameras.
Staff
at the Little Kingdom nursery, in the Black Sea city of Constanta, used
to leave cameras on each morning from 9am until 12noon so parents could
watch their children playing and in lessons.
The cameras were usually switched off at midday when the children were expected to go to sleep.
But
police and social workers investigating the incident say a parent who
logged on after that time one day at the end of last year noticed the
cameras were still running, and was shocked to see children allegedly
being shouted at and abused.
Parents in Romania allegedly witnessed
children as young as five being beaten in an unlicensed kindergarten
after staff forgot to turn off CCTV cameras
The cameras were usually switched off at midday when the children were expected to go to sleep
But police and social workers
investigating the incident say a parent who logged on after that time
one day at the end of last year discovered the alleged abuse after
noticing the cameras were still running
Lawyer
Stefan Roman, who is representing the parents, alleged they had found
that children were given red wine in their fruit juice to make them
sleep, and then given coffee to wake them up when the parents were
supposed to come to take them home.
On
a number of occasions, parents had allegedly questioned why the
children had come home with bruises, but were always told it was as a
result of being hit by one of the other youngsters in the nursery
group.
Some
of the CCTV images were recorded apparently showing the children being
pushed, dropped and dragged across the floor when they either refused to
sleep or did not want to wake up.
At one
point, a female nursery worker can allegedly be heard shouting: 'If you
don't do as you're told you will get a punch in the head, just go to
sleep or you will get hit so badly and then I will kick you outside in
the cold.'
The
nursery is still running due to a legal loophole which meant a change
in the law left nobody responsible for closing it down until the
criminal case is complete, according to Central European News.
Cristina
Ivan, of the local School Inspectorate, said although the nursery was
not licensed, there was nothing the authorities could do.
Lawyer Stefan Roman, who is
representing the parents, said they had found that children were given
red wine in their fruit juice to make them sleep
On a number of occasions, parents had
allegedly questioned why the children had come home with bruises, but
were always told it was as a result of being hit by one of the other
youngsters in the nursery group
She
said: 'It is correct that it is neither authorised or accredited
however we cannot go in and search the property and check it matches
standards until they request a licence. Not being in our database means
we have no authority to check them.'
Mr
Roman said the parents were also suing the owners of the nursery for
compensation alongside the criminal investigation being carried out by
authorities.
He said: 'As you can imagine it was a shocking experience for the parents.
'There
were 60 or so children at the nursery. We only have images from two
days but it is clear from the injuries the children had that this must
have been going on all the time.'
Parents
still using the nursery who saw the images on local television recently
were told that they were manipulated by parents of a disabled child
regarded as a troublemaker and that they were not to be trusted.
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