HOMEWOOD, Ill. (WLS) — A day care worker from the south suburbs has admitted guilt after being filmed placing a child into a trash can.

The unsettling event took place in January 2025 at the Learning Lab day care center.

Authorities detailed that around 1 p.m. on the day of the incident, Anna Petrou, an employee at the Learning Lab located on the 18700 block of Dixie Highway, put a 4-year-old child in the facility’s alley for roughly 20 seconds.

At the time, the temperature was a frigid 19 degrees, according to police reports.

Almost a year after the incident, Petrou confessed to one count of child endangerment. Her sentence includes one year of court supervision and a requirement to complete 100 hours of community service.

She was also ordered to write an apology letter to the family.

The video in the player above is from a previous report.

Video showed as Petrou brought the child inside, and placed the victim inside of an empty garbage can as a form of punishment, police said.

The parents say they didn’t learn about the incident until they picked up their son, and he mentioned to them the worker put him in a garbage can because he didn’t want to take a nap.

The boys’ parents say they were told the individual worker involved was fired. But, they are concerned that other teachers at the school witnessed the incident and failed to stop it, or even report it.

The parents say the worker told them it was a joke.

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– Homewood day care worker caught on camera putting child in garbage can: ‘I had no words’
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