Preschool worker 'locked children in the dryer'
A former pre-school employee in Borås in western Sweden is facing charges of molestation for a series of offences, including punishing young children by locking them in a drying cupboard and pulling their hair.
According to prosecutors, the woman, who is in her 60s, forced three young boys into the dryer and a fourth into the nursery school safe, the local Borås Tidning (BT) newspaper reported.
On other occasions, she also allegedly held her hand over a crying girl’s mouth to keep the child quiet and violently shook her pram.
All of the children involved were apparently between one and three at at the time of the incidents.
Following the initial accusations, which came to light last spring, a manager within the municipality filed a police report and the woman was suspended from work pending further investigations.
However, following negotiations between her union and the municipality she was not fired, due of a lack of proof of any violence taking place.
Nevertheless, prosecutors have decided to file charges against the woman.
“My opinion is that this way of reprimanding children goes beyond the limits of what is permissible and acceptable", chief prosecutor Daniel Edsbagge told the newspaper.
As soon as the accusations became known,parents of the children were called to a meeting during which they received information about what had happened.
Nevertheless, parents remained uneasy about how long it took between the time of the alleged incidents and when they learned about them.
“The fact that it happened this spring and we only found out about it now in late fall, feels uncomfortable. I hope we find out what's happening in the future,” a parent who has a child at the pre-school involved in the case told the newspaper in November.
The woman, who continues to deny all charges, is still officially employed within child care, although she is currently on sick leave, nor is she allowed to return to work at the school where the alleged incidents took place.
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According to prosecutors, the woman, who is in her 60s, forced three young boys into the dryer and a fourth into the nursery school safe, the local Borås Tidning (BT) newspaper reported.
On other occasions, she also allegedly held her hand over a crying girl’s mouth to keep the child quiet and violently shook her pram.
All of the children involved were apparently between one and three at at the time of the incidents.
Following the initial accusations, which came to light last spring, a manager within the municipality filed a police report and the woman was suspended from work pending further investigations.
However, following negotiations between her union and the municipality she was not fired, due of a lack of proof of any violence taking place.
Nevertheless, prosecutors have decided to file charges against the woman.
“My opinion is that this way of reprimanding children goes beyond the limits of what is permissible and acceptable", chief prosecutor Daniel Edsbagge told the newspaper.
As soon as the accusations became known,parents of the children were called to a meeting during which they received information about what had happened.
Nevertheless, parents remained uneasy about how long it took between the time of the alleged incidents and when they learned about them.
“The fact that it happened this spring and we only found out about it now in late fall, feels uncomfortable. I hope we find out what's happening in the future,” a parent who has a child at the pre-school involved in the case told the newspaper in November.
The woman, who continues to deny all charges, is still officially employed within child care, although she is currently on sick leave, nor is she allowed to return to work at the school where the alleged incidents took place.
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