Kristie Kovarcik (Middletown Police Dept.) and the day care where she allegedly abused a child (WTNH screenshot)
A 47-year-old day care employee in Connecticut has been arrested for allegedly picking up a 2-year-old in her care and throwing the child into a wall “like a piece of luggage.”
Kristie Kovarcik was taken into custody late last month and charged with one count of second-degree reckless endangerment and one count of risk of injury to a minor, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the City of Middletown Police Department, detectives with the department’s Special Investigations Unit responded on Jan. 12 to a report of a teacher assaulting a toddler at the Town & Country Early Learning Center in the 100 block of South Main Street. The day care facility is about 15 miles south of Hartford, Connecticut.
Authorities said that the facility notified the victim’s parents about the incident and invited them to watch internal surveillance footage showing what happened. After watching the tape, the parents immediately went to the police station to file a report and request that Kovarcik be arrested.
One of the victim’s guardians described the surveillance footage to investigators, saying that Kovarcik walked over to the toddler, grabbed the child by the shirt with both hands and then “launch[ed] the victim through the air like a piece of luggage,” Greenwich Time reported.
Detectives also viewed the surveillance footage of the alleged incident, saying it showed that Kovarcik “picked up the minor child and tossed the child to the side,” per the release.
“The child’s head then struck a nearby wall, causing a minor contusion above his/her right eye. The Director of the facility heard a commotion and pulled up the surveillance camera for Kovarcik’s room,” police wrote. “She witnessed Kovarcik toss the child aside and heard the child’s head strike the wall. The Director entered the room and removed the child. She then reported the incident to the parents and DCF as required.”
According to Greenwich Time, investigators also watched a series of footage from randomly selected dates, one of which showed Kovarcik “forcefully shoving” a child out of her way on Nov. 1, 2023.
A clip from Jan. 8, 2023, reportedly also showed Kovarcik again engaging in abusive behavior.
“Kristie (Kovarcik) is observed lifting a second young child out of a chair by (the) shirt near (the child’s) shoulders and dropping (the child) to the ground,” the warrant reportedly states.
About 10 minutes later, she can reportedly be seen “kicking the victim, while the victim is already on the ground,” according to the warrant. A few hours later, Kovarcik was seen “forcefully pushing onto the chest” of a different child while trying to make the child sleep during nap time.
Police said they are reviewing the footage and creating a log to review if additional charges are warranted.
During a police interview on Jan. 12, Kovarcik told police, “I just kinda lost my cool,” and said it was a “very chaotic” day, Greenwich Time reported.
Kovarcik supposedly denied mistreating any of the children in her care and stated that she was often left alone with the children and not given lunch breaks, which authorities said was proven false after watching the surveillance footage.
The day care facility issued the following statement about the incident, as reported by New Haven ABC affiliate. WTNH.
“After witnessing the incident involving Ms. Kovarcik on our internal camera monitoring system, we promptly started an internal investigation, informed the appropriate state authorities, and fired the employee,” a Town & Country spokesperson said. “Our safety and training protocols are among the strictest in our industry, and we handle any such incident very seriously. The safety and protection of the children in our care is always our top priority.”
Kovarcik appeared in court for her arraignment on Monday and was released after agreeing in writing to appear again on April 2.