WESTFIELD, Ind — Caitlyn Ramirez is the mother of a 3-year-old boy who police believe was abused by a day care worker.
According to court documents, an altercation between Teisha Graham of Kokomo and the child was caught on camera inside of Gunther KinderCare, located near Westfield and Carey roads, on Dec. 22, 2023.
Almost a year later in October 2024, a Westfield detective called Ramirez, wanting to speak with her.
"The police officer said that he wanted to come over," said Ramirez. "He came over, showed it to me, and it was basically my son was in a crib and the teacher grabbing him by his chest, and then raising him to the ceiling, and then just holding him there — basically non-stop crying."
Ramirez said watching that video hurt her.
"It's not something that you do to a 3-year-old, even if you're an adult and they're not behaving, you just still don't use their fears in order to get your way." said Ramirez.
Court documents say another worker had a video from Dec. 2023 where Graham is allegedly holding the little boy by his arm in the air for 20 seconds.
The video allegedly starts with Graham leaning into the crib where the 3-year-old was before she's seen allegedly shoving the boy before holding him up in the air.
Police were also given the video, according to court documents.
"I'm just trying to think of, like, 'Why does she hold on to the video for so long?'" said Ramirez.
Court documents say KinderCare spoke with Ramirez about her son's behavior, but those documents do not bring up Graham's alleged actions.
"I'm kind of more upset with KinderCare now, because it's, it's the fact that I let you guys have responsibility of my child and care for him, and then to find this out, and now your guys are blaming that it's my child's fault is kind of even more hurtful," said Ramirez.
Ramirez has already placed her son in another child care facility. She says he has been having behavioral outbursts for the past year, but didn't know what was going on until October.
"He is a sweet and loving kid when he wants to be, but he is a boy, so you've got to understand that. I mean, boys are going to be boys," said Ramirez.
13News went to the KinderCare to see if they would be willing to comment about the alleged incident. A worker would not give her name or title and just said she cant make any comments.
The KinderCare location has also been cited by the state for this incident