Inset: Joseph Kosse (Colorado Springs Police Department). Background: Springs of Life Children’s Center in Colorado, where Kosse allegedly assaulted a 4-year-old (Google Maps).
A Colorado behavioral therapist is accused of abusing a 4-year-old child at a daycare, allegedly using a scarf to restrain the boy so he would “learn a lesson.”
Joseph Kosse, 36, was arrested Friday and faces one felony count of second-degree assault and one misdemeanor count of child abuse, according to court records.
The Colorado Springs Police Department said in an incident report that officers responded at 3:24 p.m. Oct. 23 to a reported child abuse case at Springs of Life Children’s Center in the 2300 block of Academy Place. The caller told dispatchers that “a 4-year-old child had been tied up by a therapist while at the facility.”
Police said the therapist was employed by the child’s family and was not a member of the daycare’s staff.
The CSPD Crimes Against Children Unit assumed control of the investigation Oct. 27. Detectives interviewed several witnesses and conducted a forensic interview with the child before obtaining an arrest warrant for Kosse on Oct. 29. He was arrested the next day.
Further details about the arrest and allegations were outlined in a probable cause affidavit obtained by KRDO, a local ABC affiliate.
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The affidavit states that Kosse worked for Grace Way Collective Behavioral Therapy. The child’s family had reportedly arranged with the daycare for him to receive individual therapy sessions there during nap time.
During the Oct. 23 session, the daycare director said she heard a child crying and went to check on him. When she asked Kosse what had happened, he allegedly claimed the boy had tried to put a scarf around his own neck. Kosse reportedly told her he then tied the child with the scarf so the boy would “learn his lesson.”
The director contacted police after allegedly seeing red marks on the child’s neck. The boy also complained that his neck was hurting.
The child told investigators that Kosse had “tied a scarf on my neck” and was “holding it too tight,” according to the report.
In a statement to KRDO, Springs of Life said Kosse and the other therapists employed by Grace Way Collective Behavioral Therapy were no longer permitted to enter the facility.
Kosse was booked into the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center. Jail records showed that he had been released by Monday evening.
Court records did not immediately indicate when Kosse was scheduled to make his next court appearance.