Last month, the Navy quietly placed staff at its child development center at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake on administrative leave after seeing video footage of potential abuse that dated back to at least September.
The service did not immediately notify parents or share the evidence, even after the center reopened late last month.
But one parent who saw tape on Wednesday of staff interacting with her child described the footage as showing “he was harmed … physically, emotionally, and mentally harmed.” The parent outlined what she had seen in the footage to Military.com but requested anonymity and that the publication withhold specific details of the tape to protect her identity due to concerns about retaliation.
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It took a month and a half after the incident that was caught on tape for the parent to be told about what had happened.
The Navy also failed to inform parents of an earlier issue with an employee in August. That month, a staff member at the center resigned after being accused of child abuse, which prompted the first of what would be two temporary shutdowns, the Navy revealed Wednesday.
The center was also shut down for just under a week in mid-October. According to a copy of an email sent to parents that was provided to Military.com by the Navy, the service cited a need “to conduct a mandatory training and sanitation stand down…
