NewsChannel 5.com - Nashville, Tennessee - Day Care Workers Leave Infant Alone In Center

Day Care Workers Leave Infant Alone In Center

BELLEVUE, Tenn. - A Bellevue daycare agreed to suspend operation after a 5-month-old child was found abandoned.

According to police, they were called to Dee's Magic Castle Daycare in Bellevue just after 5 p.m. Thursday.

A woman went to pick up her grandchild, but the building was dark and no adults were present.

Police and fire crews broke down the door and found the child inside - crying but unhurt.

"It's a horrible mistake that could have had tragic consequences," said Michelle Mowery-Johnson, director of communications for the Tennessee Department of Human Services.

The daycare director said the child was left alone by accident, after the two caregivers failed to see the infant in the crib before leaving.

Officials aren't sure how long the child was left alone.

"I will do everything in my power to see that nothing like that ever happens again," said Pam Childress, director of Dee's Magic Castle Daycare

DHS shut the closed the business and opened an investigation.

"Basically we're looking at how something like this could happen," Mowery-Johnson said.

In the two years since the business opened, DHS has received more than a dozen complaints.

DHS investigators visited the daycare five times this year.

"I'm sorry that this happen," Childress said. "This is an unfortunate incident."

Dee's Magic Castle Daycare will be closed until the staff is trained and polices are reviewed and updated by DHS. DHS also must give permission in writing to lift the suspension.

To read the corrective measures DHS requires the day care to meet, click here.

In the past, Dee's Magic Castle Daycare received zero stars out of a three star rating system.