OAK CREEK, Wis. — The family of one-year-old Prince Staples is demanding justice after he was allegedly harmed at Oak Creek KinderCare.
“What started as an abrasion to a nose escalated to a black eye and ended with cocaine in an 11-month-old baby,” said Attorney B’Ivory LaMarr at a press conference on Wednesday outside the daycare center.
Prince just turned one year old last week Thursday, May 23. LaMarr is seeking child neglect charges against former employee 24-year-old Passion Watson, who was arrested after cocaine was discovered in a urine test of the child.
“I hate driving past this place every day,” Prince’s mother Kimberly Hopson said through tears. “I can’t believe it happened to my son.”
Hopson’s attorney said this isn’t the first incident at Oak Creek KinderCare. The care center has 23 previous violations with the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families — most deal with record-keeping, but a handful are related to supervision and treatment of children.
Prince’s injuries date back to May 3rd when his family noticed abrasions to his nose after picking him up from the daycare. Then on May 9, KinderCare staff notified Hopson of a red abrasion on Prince’s eye which turned into a black eye.
On May 15, he was vomiting and came home with blood and scratch marks on his buttocks. After Hopson took her son to Children’s Hospital for the injuries, doctors called police for potential child abuse.
Last week Tuesday, a urine toxicology report indicated the presence of cocaine metabolites in the child’s urine.
LaMarr said unlike physical abuse, the long-term physiological effects of cocaine are often detrimental: “Bruises heal, but when you put cocaine in an 11-month-old baby, that brain isn’t even developed yet… now you’re talking about long-term effects that this baby has to go through.”
As of Wednesday, the Oak Creek KinderCare center remains open.
“This daycare should be closed down,” said Prince’s grandmother Desiree Hopson. “The owner of this daycare should have demanded that every parent be contacted that day and all of their children should have been sent to some clinic that day to be tested for cocaine.”
The attorney for Prince’s family said they are seeking accountability, but their focus remains centered on the wellbeing of their child. LaMarr said a lawsuit is not off the table in the future.
