TAYLORSVILLE, Utah, Nov. 18, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A 67-year-old employee at a Taylorsville day care was arrested Thursday after police say she abused a 2-year-old boy in her care.
Taylorsville police say surveillance video from Nov. 2 shows Juana Petatan Noyola handling the boy “aggressively and roughly, hitting [him] in the head twice, and forcefully throwing him down” at ABC Great Beginnings daycare, 4579 S. 1175 West.
When the 2-year-old is thrown down, “it appears that he hits his face on a chair,” according to a probable cause statement filed in 3rd District Court. The boy suffered a chipped tooth, which required a root canal, police said.
The toddler’s mother contacted police on Nov. 3 to report the abuse. Her children, including the 2-year-old and a 7-year-old son, were at the day care from about 3 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., according to the police statement.
The next day, the 7-year-old asked his mother if she’d seen the 2-year-old’s lip, police said. The mother then noticed that the boy had “a cut on his lip, dried blood in his nose, and one of his top front teeth was broken and missing,” the statement continues.
Police say the 7-year-old boy told his mother one of the day care’s “teachers hit him on a table,” according to the affidavit.
Police say the mother had not be notified of any injury at the day care, and day care employees refused to allow her to view video footage.
Police received the surveillance video from the day care Wednesday and arrested Noyola the next day. She was arrested for investigation of aggravated child abuse/intentionally or knowingly, a second-degree felony.
Police say Noyola admitted to injuring the child and “knowing what she did was wrong.” She also told officers she had “disciplined her grandkids in the past and they had bled from the mouth.”
Noyola is being held without bail in the Salt Lake County jail.
