Dad shocked no charges in Fuquay-Varina day care case
FUQUAY-VARINA (WTVD) -- A Fuquay-Varina dad says he is in shock after hearing the news that Fuquay-Varina Police will not file charges against his son's day care teacher at Little Angels Preparatory School.
Augustine Luna's 4-year old son, Augustine Jr., came home from school last month with his face rubbed raw.
"What more evidence they want, than the baby's face? They saw the baby's face," Luna said.
READ MORE: NO CHARGES AFTER ALLEGATION OF ABUSE AT FUQUAY-VARINA DAYCARE
Luna said the boy had been playing with magic marker the night before. He said he couldn't remove it all and notified the boy's teacher the next morning.
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Luna says the teacher tried to remove it herself with soap and a brush -- not stopping despite the boy's cries.
Luna took his son to the hospital and filed a police report.
One month later, Augustine is feeling fine. But after reviewing the pictures, talking to Luna and interviewing the teacher and administrators at the day care; Fuquay Police and the Wake County District Attorney's Office determined any injuries the boy suffered were unrelated to the day care.
"In this case, the facts did not lead to criminal charges as there was no evidence of child abuse," Fuquay Police Chief Laura Fahnestock said in a statement.
"I feel like there's no justice. I mean there's no justice. Look at my child," Luna said. "You see the pictures of my child before."
When asked if the boy could have been injured somewhere else besides the day care, Luna said "absolutely not."
However, on Friday, the Fuquay-Varina Police Department offered some more details on the investigation.
Authorities said after the initial report, Augustine hurt himself while playing on a slide at a playground. The injuries were accidental and not related to any child abuse, police said.
"Unfortunately to the case, the cause of the secondary injuries were not shared originally with the Fuquay-Varina Police Department and with outside sources in the media," the police department said in a statement. "This led to misinformation about the extent of injuries occurring to the child at day care and made a serious allegation even more difficult to ascertain the truth in what injuries were originally sustained at the child care."
The Fuquay-Varina Police Department said it conducted a thorough and detailed review of all witnesses, review of video evidence at the day care, review of photographic evidence the day of the injury, review of photographic evidence from an additional location where the secondary injury occurred, and all other relevant evidence involved in the case investigation.
Meanwhile, Luna has since transferred his son to another day care center. And, he wants the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate further.
