CHESTER, Va. — A 17-year-old was alone and supposed to be watching four children ages 3 to 5 at Fortress of God Childcare when they left the kids unsupervised for about six minutes and one of the kids escaped onto a nearby busy road, according to violations listed on the Virginia Department of Social Services website.
The 17-year-old did not know the child had left, according to DSS.
Virginia code states anytime a daycare staff member is under the age of 18, they have to be under the supervision of an adult staff member.
While on site, the DSS inspector found a number of repeat staffing violations.
Watch: Virginia daycare where child was found wandering in road had prior violations
The inspector noted that two infants were sleeping in a classroom unsupervised.
And, they encountered a person who was not a staff member, but who was supervising three infants alone.
When the inspector spoke to that person, they reported that they stopped in to help due to the incident, but did not work there.
The administrator of the daycare, Monique Ede, told the inspector that many people showed up at the center to offer support, and she did not know who that person was.
We sent an email to Ede asking her if she wanted to respond to the violations.
She sent us back a letter that seemed to be a complaint of sorts that she intended to send or did send to DSS and the Virginia Department of Education.
In it, she said she started her daycare to offer hope to parents who were struggling, and kept her prices between $50 and $150 a week.
She said she allowed some children to attend for free.
Ede said she felt like the DSS inspector targeted her and had little regard for her personal story and struggles. She claims her rights were violated and an abuse of authority occurred.
The daycare has to submit a plan of correction to DSS by March 6.
But in her email to CBS 6, Ede said she closed her daycare.
Chesterfield County Police said they continue to investigate the incident.
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