A former day care worker in Connecticut has pleaded guilty to charges related to an incident in which she threw a 2-year-old child into a wall at the Town & Country Early Learning Center in Middletown. Kristie Kovarcik, 48, admitted to one felony count of risk of injury to a child and three misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment in the second degree.
The disturbing incident occurred in October 2023, but police were not informed about the crime until January 2024. Kovarcik was arrested in February 2024 after a thorough investigation, and in March 2024, she was formally charged.
The incident unfolded when Middletown Police detectives responded to a report of a teacher assaulting a toddler at the day care center. The facility itself alerted the victim’s parents and invited them to watch internal surveillance footage showing the incident. After seeing the video, the parents contacted the police and demanded Kovarcik’s arrest.
According to the arrest warrant, the footage showed Kovarcik walking over to the toddler, grabbing the child by the shirt with both hands, and “launching” the child through the air, causing the child’s head to strike a nearby wall. The child suffered a minor contusion above their right eye.
The day care center’s director, who witnessed the incident on the surveillance footage, immediately intervened, removed the child from the room, and reported the incident to the parents and the Department of Children and Families (DCF) as required.
In addition to the incident involving the 2-year-old, Kovarcik was seen abusing other children in separate incidents earlier in the year. On January 8, 2023, surveillance footage showed her lifting a child out of a chair by the shirt, dropping the child to the ground, and later kicking the child while it was on the ground.
Later that day, Kovarcik was seen forcefully pushing another child’s chest while trying to make them sleep during nap time. On November 1, 2023, another video showed Kovarcik aggressively shoving a child out of her way.
Kovarcik told investigators that she “just kinda lost my cool” and that the incident occurred during a particularly chaotic day. Initially, she denied mistreating the children and claimed she was often left alone with them, without breaks for lunch. However, authorities disproved these claims using the surveillance footage.
After the incident was discovered, the day care facility issued a statement, emphasizing their commitment to child safety and stating that they had immediately conducted an internal investigation, terminated Kovarcik, and notified the appropriate state authorities. The spokesperson added that the facility’s safety and training protocols are among the strictest in the industry.
Kovarcik is scheduled for sentencing on September 25, 2024. The case has raised serious concerns about child safety and the responsibilities of day care providers to ensure the well-being of children in their care.
