TYLER, Texas — An East Texas daycare worker is facing six charges for accusations of kicking and pushing several young children.
Catherine Guziejka, 44, was booked into the Smith County Jail on Oct. 30 on six counts of injury to a child with the intent to cause bodily injury. She remains jailed, according to records.
Arrest affidavits show that Guziejka was seen assaulting children from July to October this year when parents and staff reviewed video surveillance from classrooms at the Punkin' Doodles Day Care in Lindale.
Initially, those who first reported an incident of Guziejka kicking a child in the classroom thought it may have been an accident, but daycare office staff said they saw her kicking the kids in their lower back many times. The kicking incidents were observed on about 21 separate occasions. All of the children were 2 years old, the document read.
The Smith County Sheriff's Office deputy investigating the case received videos from October. Many of them showed a child watching a TV show, and Guziejka came from behind and kicked them swiftly in the back with her right foot, according to the affidavit.
Another video showed Guziejka stand on a child's left hand for seven seconds and the child quickly pulled away their hand in pain. Several videos showed her walking around as the kids napped and then aggressively adjust them or move them. She was also seen yanking them by one arm out of their sleep and dragging them to the changing table, the affidavit explained.
In many videos, she was seen aggressively laying the kids on the changing table, pushing their heads down and forcing them to face the wall as the 1 or 2-year-olds tried to look in the direction of the TV, the affidavit said.
In a law enforcement interview, Melanie Law, former owner of the daycare, said Guziejka had been assaulting the kids since July. Law said she saw 100 separate incidents of the the six children in the classroom getting assaulted. Law agreed to provide all available video to the sheriff's office, the affidavit read.
Law told CBS19 that Guziejka was fired the same day that the staff learned of what was happening. Law said she immediately called law enforcement and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate Guziejka's actions. The DFPS report determined she will not be allowed to work at any hospital, daycare, nursing house or a facility that cares for vulnerable people.
Law said that Guziejka was up-to-date on her trainings, but something must've happened to her. After these reports and investigation, Law said she decided to sell the daycare.
The deputy wrote in the document that the kids were not being disruptive before video shows Guziejka kicking or assaulting the child. After the kick or hit, the deputy did not see Guziejka console or comfort any of the children in the videos, according to the document. It was apparent that Guziejka's actions were random, intentional, unprovoked, violent in nature and done for the sole intent of inflicting pain, the deputy said.
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