Video footage from surveillance cameras leaves little doubt for those who have seen it: infants from birth to three years old subjected to pushing, slapping, and confinement in dark rooms as punishment. Yet the director of Pecas, the daycare in a Madrid suburb where accusations of physical and psychological abuse surfaced late last year, claimed she neither saw nor knew anything about what was happening.
That is, at least, her account before Judge Maria del Carmen Neira, who has heard from the director but notes she answered only questions posed by her own attorney. These details have been reported by El PeriF3dico de Espa based on sources present during the statement.
The case, being handled by Instruction Court Number 3 in Pozuelo de AlarcE1n, originated after a student intern filed a complaint. On Monday the same court heard from two former Pecas interns who corroborated the alleged averse treatment of about 20 children involved in the case.
The director under investigation
Given the apparent clarity of the footage, which parents of the children have not yet seen in full, the judge is investigating not only the direct perpetrators of the abuse but also those who allegedly assisted by failing to intervene in the mistreatment.
Thus it becomes critical for the judge to determine how aware the director was of the situation, and she is currently charged in the case.
At present, Pecas Daycare, located in Pozuelo de AlarcE1n, a town of around 2,000 residents with very high per capita income, has been closed. However, at the start of the school year, the facility reportedly enrolled children of several members of the football club AtlE9tico Madrid, though none of those children appeared to be involved in the events.
The judge already has the report
It is possible that more victims may emerge, as the judge already has access to a police report compiled after reviewing all available surveillance footage and material provided by the complainant. Families will be summoned to view the material again in the near future.
The abuses seen in those Pecas daycare videos extend beyond physical harm. Sources described to this newspaper that one clip shows a caregiver telling a child, You are a failure; you are intelligent, but you will not achieve anything in life. Such statements reportedly appear in one of the February videos.
Advocate Ignacio Gordillo, representing one of the families present during the viewing, explained that in one of the clips the child is seen crying for a prolonged period without receiving necessary care. According to testimony given at the time, these patterns may have caused psychological effects in some children.