Children locked in daycare closet for ‘survival game’
A Brooklyn daycare center is being sued after security footage surfaced showing two teachers leaving children locked in closets as part of “a survival game.”
Tatiana Ilyaich, owner of Pinocchio Children’s Palace, allegedly discovered video showing teacher Shandra Fallen, 25, and her assistant, Amellia Samuda, 34, ushering children into a supply closet, shutting the door and leaving the children for several minutes at a time.
According to NY Post, Fallen opens the door to a scared boy and “started laughing” in the footage.
“It’s kind of a game we’re playing with the kids,” Fallen said, according to Ilyaich, who found out about it when she heard crying from Fallen’s classroom.
Ilyaich discovered that it had been happening in the past when going through older footage.
The NY Post wrote of the footage, from May 14, “Fallen can be seen putting one small child into the closet, which is packed with supply-stuffed shelving, and leaving him there alone for three minutes before releasing him.”
Fallen allegedly does the same with more young children, and ignores a child pounding on the front of the closed door.
Ilyaich reported Fallen and Samuda to the authorities and parents, and fired the two teachers.
The mother of 2-year-old Mahli Mathias is reportedly suing the center, accusing them of negligence.
Fallen’s lawyer denied any wrongdoing.
Contact Kristen DeSilva at kdesilva@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3895. Find her on Twitter: @kristendesilva
