A father and mother of three children, residents of Jerusalem, noticed that their 3.5-month-old infant had begun to regress since he was placed in a daycare, and decided to attach a recording device to his car seat.
The recording, which lasts for 6.5 hours, showed that the daycare provider often screamed at and cursed the children in her care, threatened violence, and apparently also beat them.
Recently, the parents submitted a complaint to the Jerusalem police, and requested that attorney Boaz Kenig represent them. Kenig represented the parents whose children were abused by Carmel Mauda last year.
According to Kenig's letter to the police, the parents in question are not the only ones who complained about violence on the part of the home daycare provider: At least two other couples have also turned to the police with similar complaints, asking that an investigation be opened on the issue.
The letter also states that during long segments of the recording, constant crying can be heard, along with harsh curses from the provider.
"The child's loud crying can be heard, and the provider curses, 'Stupid cup of venom, take, be quiet!'" Later in the letter, the daycare provider is quoted as saying, "I'm going to give you such a slap," and cursing the child.
According to Kenig, "If we want to listen very closely, then we can even clearly hear a smack and immediately afterwards even more hysterical crying by the child." In his opinion, there is no question that the daycare provider's actions constitute a criminal offense.
"To my amazement, despite several parents filing complaints with the police in the capital, the daycare continues to operate as usual, and it could well be that the children who are currently in it continue to suffer from the harsh cruelty of the provider," he said.
"I have turned to the police in the capital, and requested that they not neglect to deal with this issue, despite the coronavirus outbreak. I truly hope that the police will order the daycare immediately closed and work to quickly complete the investigation."