Toddler is bitten eight times on her back at Arizona day care

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Rocio Enriquez and Rylee Umstead say their 15-month-old daughter, Mila, was bitten by another child on her second day at day care
Biting took place in a class with just four children while the teacher was busy changing a baby's diaper
Teacher has been suspended and the toddler who bit Mila back was expelled
President of Sunrise Preschools in Arizona on Sunday issued an apology

Published: 15:03 EDT, 29 April 2019 | Updated: 16:48 EDT, 29 April 2019

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A family in Arizona are accusing staff at their 15-month-old daughter's day care of failing to protect their child after she came home last week covered in bite marks from a classmate.

Rocio Enriquez, of Maricopa, says the incident involving her daughter, Mila, took place on her second day at Sunrise Preschools last Thursday.

According to Enriquez and her husband, Rylee Umstead, school staff informed them that Mila was bitten 'just a couple of times' when they went to pick her up.

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A couple from Maricopa, Arizona, say their 15-month-old daughter, Mila, came home from her day care last Thursday with eight bite marks on her back (pictured)

Rocio Enriquez (left) and her husband, Rylee Umstead (right), say their child was repeatedly bitten by another toddler inside a classroom where just four kids were present

The incident took place at Sunrise Preschools in Maricopa, Arizona (pictured)

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But when the couple brought the toddler home and examined her, they counted eight red bite marks on her back.

‘I lifted up her shirt just a little bit and it freaked me out,’ Umstead told Azfamily.com. ‘I froze up, just shocked.’

When the furious Enriquez confronted the day care administration, she was reportedly told that there were four children in the classroom with one teacher, who at one point was busy changing a baby's diaper.

Officials at the school told the parents that the biting attack took place over the course of 30 seconds.

‘She had to have screamed multiple times,’ Enriquez said of her child in an interview with Fox10. ‘Why is the child paying the consequences when it should be the teacher?’

Enriquez questioned why the teacher did not stop the other child from harming her daughter after the first bite.

‘You can justify one bite mark. But eight? That’s some negligence,’ she said.

The mother suggested that young Mila has been traumatized by the painful experience.

‘She’s gotten to the point where she doesn’t want anyone to lift her shirt up,’ she said. ‘She freaks out.’

The couple said their daughter is now afraid to let anyone lift her shirt up

The child who inflicted these injuries on Mila (left and right) was expelled, while the teacher was in the room has been suspended without pay

On Sunday, Sunday Preschools, which operates locations through Arizona, released a lengthy statement acknowledging the incident with Mila and repeatedly apologizing for what had happened.

According to the statement from company president Dana Vela, the teacher on whose watch the biting happened has been suspended without pay, and the toddler who bit Mila was expelled due to the 'severity' of the incident.

‘This should not have happened,’ Vela wrote. ‘This incident was heartbreaking and unacceptable and we are working diligently to ensure it does not happen again.’

Vela went on to reassure her clients that the day care is reviewing all of its policies and procedures 'to do everything possible to keep this from happening again.'

FULL STATEMENT FROM SUNRISE PRESCHOOLS:

We are truly sorry for an incident that occurred at our new center in Maricopa.

Sunrise Preschools considers safety of the children in our care job one. It is our first priority. It is why we have been privileged to provide child care for more than three decades. On Thursday April 25th a toddler was bitten multiple times by another toddler during a very short timeframe.

This should not have happened. Only four children were under the supervision of the caregiver watching the children. That caregiver has been suspended without pay pending further investigation.

This incident was heartbreaking and unacceptable and we are working diligently to ensure it does not happen again. We are reviewing all policies and procedures and will take whatever steps are needed to prevent this rare but serious matter from repeating itself.

A video of the incident confirms the child was injured by another child very quickly and while the caregiver was changing a diaper. This is not meant to excuse the incident but to explain what happened. We can and will do better and this unfortunate matter has provided some hard learned lessons.

After the child was injured first aid was administered, and the parents of the injured child were informed. The child who bit the classmate was expelled. While there is established protocol to address occasional biting behavior common to many toddlers, the severity of the incident demanded a more appropriate response.

Sunrise is following internal policies and procedures as well as licensing regulations and employment law requirements throughout the investigative process.

But we are also determined to do more. We are reviewing our procedures. We are studying what happened. Additional steps are being evaluated to do everything possible to keep this from happening again.

We apologize again and profusely when we fail because the trust you place in us is understood and appreciated which is why Sunrise has the outstanding reputation it has for decades in Arizona.

We are welcoming both questions and input from the community.

If you have questions, concerns, or input please email me at info@sunrisepreschools.com.

Our mission is to educate as well as care for children. In this instance Sunrise will use this unfortunate incident as a way to further educate ourselves with input from our parents and the community.

Thank you, Dana Vela, President, Sunrise Preschools