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From left to right: Sara MacDowell, Veronica Zarate, and Christiana Klosterboer discuss their lawsuit against a day care owner in Coolidge, Ariz. (WPHO).
A collective of Arizona mothers has initiated legal action against a day care owner, alleging that she mistreated their children by resorting to locking them in a “dark room” as a form of punishment.
The local CBS station KPHO interviewed three of these mothers who have filed a lawsuit against the owner of a home-operated day care in Coolidge, situated approximately 55 miles southeast of Phoenix. The mothers, representing 19 children, have lodged their complaint in Maricopa County, Arizona. They accuse the day care operator of disciplining the children by confining them in a dark room and intimidating them. Among those speaking to KPHO were Sara MacDowell, Veronica Zarate, and Christiana Klosterboer, who shared their observations of how their children behaved after attending the day care.
Sara MacDowell, who had five of her children enrolled at the day care, recounted to KPHO that after several months, one of her daughters began experiencing severe night terrors, waking up in the middle of the night in distress. Her other children developed a fear of being alone, became terrified of darkness, and expressed fears that “the monsters are going to get me.”
Concerned by these alarming changes, MacDowell took the step of concealing a tape recorder in her son’s car seat, capturing an hour of interaction between the day care owner and the children. The recorded audio, which was shared with KPHO, features the day care provider directing a child, saying, “Okay, you go in the dark room,” and adding, “[B]ecause that’s where bad kids go.”
The recording also captured the children’s cries, pleading, “Let me out!”
Zarate and Klosterboer’s children also reportedly told their mothers about the “dark room.”
Law&Crime reached out to the attorneys representing the mothers but did not receive a response. KPHO reported that the day care owner is not currently facing criminal charges, but one of the mothers filed a police report against her.