Daycare Worker Caught on Camera Kicking Toddlers 100+ Times

A daycare worker caught on surveillance. video repeatedly kicking toddlers. Well, she's expected to spend time in prison. after pleading guilty. More than 100. incidents were caught on camera. We are. taking a look at what her sentence could. be and the steps that can be taken to. make sure our children are safer in. daycare environments. And we're going to. do that with an expert in daycare injury. litigation. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. [Music].

A woman in Lindell, Texas, was expected. to care for multiple children at a local. daycare, but instead she was caught on. camera kicking those children again and. again and again, coming up behind them. and kicking them in the back. I wish I. was making it up, but I am not. We first. told you about 45year-old Katherine. Guziesa last fall. She worked at Pumpkin. Doodles Daycare in Lindale. Another. daycare employee was checking security. tapes when they allegedly spotted. Guusiesca kicking a two-year-old child.

in the small of their back. This boy. apparently cried out, grabbed his back. where she'd struck them. According to an. arrest warrant that was reviewed by KTV. that other daycare employee called the. boy's father and reported what happened. He then got in touch with the Smith. County Sheriff's Office on October 23rd, 2024. So investigators, they reviewed. more of Pumpkin Doodle surveillance. footage and they found that this woman, Guiesca, kicked six toddlers on 134.

separate occasions. And by the way, that's not all. Several videos. reportedly showed her walking around. during nap time and aggressively moving. various toddlers, pulling some of them. from their beds and dragging them by. their arms to a changing table. This is. according to court documents. In videos. that showed a changing table, Guiesca. reportedly put the children on the table. so aggressively, pushing their heads and. forcing them to stare at the wall.

instead of in the direction of a TV. She's even accused of standing on. children's hands to punish them. One. video allegedly showed her standing on a. toddler's hand for several seconds while. the child tried to get away. Now, deputies, they reviewed these videos and. they said the children, they weren't. acting out in any way. They weren't. being disruptive when the daycare worker. hurt them. Not that that would even. matter. But the sheriff's office said in. the affidavit it was apparent that. Guesca that her actions were random,

intentional, unprovoked, violent in. nature, and done for the sole intent of. inflicting pain. And Guiesca hadn't been. at that daycare all that long. The. former owner of the daycare, Melanie. Dawn Law, spoke with KTV and said that. the woman was originally hired in. September of 2023 and that the assaults. happened between July and October in. 2024. She says she fired Guzca the day. the abuse was exposed. And according to. reporting, she passed a background check. and had all the required training and.

qualifications to work with young. children. She reportedly said, "To think. someone I hired and trusted could harm. innocent children in this way is beyond. comprehension." Guzca was arrested and. charged with two counts of injury to a. child with the intent to cause bodily. harm. More of those same felony charges. were later tacked on, bringing the total. to six. She was held on a $450,000 bond, which it appears she was never able to. post. And law said that she planned to. sell the daycare, that it would reopen.

under new ownership with a new name. And. then we go to Tuesday, September 16th, and this is when Guzca entered a guilty. plea in Smith County court. Now, based. on the Texas criminal sentencing. guidelines, Guzca could face a wide. range of prison sentences. KTV reports. that her defense attorneys are asking. for a 10-year sentence on each charge, which, you know, kind of sounds like a. lot, but they want those sentences. served concurrently, so at the same.

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killer with 50 Cent exclusively on Fox. Nation. Now, to talk about all this, I. want to bring back on Russell Button, who is a daycare injury attorney out in. Texas. Uh, unfortunately, you know, deals with a lot of these cases often. Uh, Russell, it's really good to see you. again because you've been following this. case with us for the past year. I I. guess we could start here. It's good to. see some sort of resolution in this. case, pleading guilty. Why do you think. that happened? You know, Jesse, we've. been following this case since you uh. had us on last December. Um and I am.

grateful that they finally plead guilty. Okay. Uh and I think a lot of it had to. do um with the significance uh that this. got out there in the press. I think. that's part of it. Um and it brought to. light some of these issues that we see. time and time again in our cases. Um, now one of the the most important parts. uh about why this was pled to and why. why this uh uh criminal is finally going. to get sentenced um for what she did to. these children. Uh it's largely because.

this should never happen and they know. it and there's no way out of it on this. one. >> No. No. Okay, let's talk about that. No. way out of it. I'm sensing significant. prison time here. The defense though, what they're asking for is interesting. They're asking for, our understanding, 10 years on each of the six charges, but. serving them concurrently at the same. time. So, I guess, you know, 10 years in. total. What is your reaction to that. recommendation? >> Well, first off, Jesse, I I'm just.

grateful that the district attorney and. they're taking they're taking this. seriously criminally. Um because I'll. say far too often on these abuse cases. uh we see criminal charges not getting. brought. Um and so I'm very grateful. that that happened here. So as far as. the 10 years per each uh count of the. six counts for a total of 60, but. they're all going to be served at the. same time. Um in my opinion, concurrent. sentences in this sort of scenario, it.

doesn't reflect the severity of what. happened here. I mean, plain and simple. Uh this was not a one-time mistake. I. mean, that's clear. 134 different. instances of abuse um spread out uh over. months and months of time with multiple. different children. This was an adult. who intentionally harmed toddlers um and. each of those children and each of those. assaults deserves to be recognized. individually in our opinion. um serving.

that all that amount of time at once, it. minimizes the weight of the crimes. individually in our opinion and fails to. account for the repeated harm that these. families had to endure. >> What do you think the court's going to. do? >> You know, the court is is is going to. make their own decision no matter what. each side of the attorneys uh recommend. um attorneys can come up with a deal on. both sides, the prosecutor and the. defense, and the judge is going to make. their own determination uh weighing the. severity of the uh of what happened um.

in conjunction with the crimes. Uh and I. hope the judge just understands our. position as uh daycare and child injury. lawyers and what we see on these day. these daycare abuse cases time and time. again. And I hope they take that into. their consideration when they're making. the right decision for the community. >> Here's the thing about this, right? I. wonder if she plead guilty because there. was absolutely no defense. What would. the defense have be have been? You know, it's one thing to say someone's. babysitting and there's bruises and the.

parents accuse the babysitter of abuse, but there's no surveillance footage, there's no cell phone footage, there's. no uh text messages. It's just the words. of the parent, you know, and the word. against the words of a babysitter or. caretaker. This is very well documented. Um, was there any defense? >> I couldn't think of one. I mean, to be. honest with you, and we talked about. this, you know, last time you had us on. at the very outset before all this. actually fully got developed and came to.

light. Um, there is no defense to this. Uh, and there shouldn't be a defense to. to abusing children. Um, and repeatedly. abusing children. Thankfully, there was. surveillance footage uh that was. preserved. um not just recorded but. actually preserved uh and being able to. be watched over. Um and and you you said. it uh in in certain circumstances we see. this in daycarees when there isn't. surveillance footage and nobody wants to.

talk about what they saw or what they've. witnessed. Um and far too often this. abuse just goes unrecognized. um and and nothing is done about it and. then we see something worse happen later. on. Um, and in this case, uh, why wasn't. this brought to light sooner? Why did it. have to get to this point is one of the. big questions that that we would like to. see answered at some point in this case. >> And going back to something, are daycare. facilities required to have security. cameras? And if they are, is there a.

minimum to how often that video should. be reviewed? >> You know, this is the biggest thing in. our in our cases that we see, Jesse. Um. and at it very much at light in this. case here um this case here uh it's very. clear that the surveillance cameras they. can't protect children alone right um. someone needs to actually be monitoring. them you know it goes back to the old. adage what good is it if you if you. don't use them um now they're great for. after the fact which is great for this.

criminal case as evidenced here and any. civil cases that would follow um and. should serve as a deterrent to. caregivers to to not do these bad things. to kids. Um, but these kids suffered. again and again because no one at the. daycare was reviewing the footage. regularly. Um, right now Texas does not. require daycare centers to have cameras. Uh, and there are no regulations about. how often the footage should be checked. Um, we are actively advocating and.

working for all daycarees to be required. to have surveillance footage. Um, and to. make that surveillance foot surveillance. footage recorded. Uh, and on top of. that, it's just normal supervision of a. daycare when they do have cameras. No. matter what they are, they should be. regularly checked throughout the day. Jesse, to answer your question on that, um, now we don't expect somebody to. necessarily just be sitting there. looking at the camera all day long, but. there shouldn't be an opportunity for a.

caregiver to be alone with kids without. being viewed and super supervised to. allow them to abuse kids over 134 times. over several months. But it also. indicates something else that based on. the reporting when the other employee. called a toddler's father about what she. saw on the camera, it was the parent who. got in touch with law enforcement. Though the daycare owner told deputies. that she contacted child protective. services and law enforcement when she. learned about what happened. So it goes.

into this idea of what falls under. mandatory reporting for daycare workers. How do you del how do you differentiate. between what might be like an internal. issue dealing with things like. retraining versus criminal behavior? >> Yeah, it it's it's everything here. Texas law is very clear. Uh daycare. workers and everyone that works at a. daycare is a mandatory reporter in. Texas. They are required to report. suspected abuse immediately to the state. and to law enforcement. You see.

something, you got to say something. simple end of story uh point blank and. period. Okay. Um this daycare and all of. their workers and the director and. owner, they failed these families at. every turn by not taking immediate. action when they first saw something of. suspected abuse. Even Jesse, they don't. even have to actually have seen an and. what they would term as abuse. It's. suspected abuse. And we see this in. physical abuse and sexual abuse cases. all the time. We have active cases where.

this is a big thing. And you hit on the. training aspect of this. These daycarees. must be training on what is a reportable. uh offense that happens at daycare. Um. and we see that caregivers when we take. their depositions all the time had no. idea that what they saw, what they. witnessed, what they verbally told. management, what management even knew uh. was supposed to be reported. And it just. is alarming because a lot of these.

things could have been stopped right. away and a lot earlier than going on for. months at a time. Um, this. responsibility though, Jesse, is not. optional. The law is, like I said, is. clear on that. It is not an option to. choose whether or not you report. And. the fact that a parent had to be told. something by a worker and the parent was. the one who reports is just devastating. for all the other things out there that. don't get reported. That's what's. alarming about this. >> I want to be clear about something. The.

fact that Guziesa has pleaded guilty and. yes, this is a a big story. We've tried. to amplify it here on Sidebar, bring. awareness to it, bring awareness to what. might be going on in other states, in. other families. But if she ever tried to. work at a daycare in the future in a. different state, you know, let's say she. gets 10 years, you know, comes out, she has to be flagged on a background.

check, right? I just want to be clear. There is, do you see any avenue by which. she could be caring for children again? Uh again, assuming someone hasn't heard. this story, hasn't followed the news, is. there any any avenue that she's going to. be taking care of children again? I. >> sure hope not. Um and any daycare that. does choose to hire her uh is. immediately grossly negligent. Knowing. um what is out there, what they should. know that is out there uh that would. show up on a simple Google search, would. show up on a background check um and.

would just show up in checking prior. references. Uh, so to answer your your. your specific question about this, um, can she we see daycarees all the time. that skip a background check, don't do a. thorough one, don't do reference checks, don't just do a simple Google search, and they hire people that are known sex. offenders. Uh, we they hire people with. known criminal histories, documented. criminal histories, both with fraud, with harming children, uh, with.

aggressive uh, violent pasts. um and. prior abuse findings. We we see this. time and time again. It shouldn't. happen. It's not supposed to happen, but. it does happen when daycarees uh choose. to cut corners. So, the the important. thing is there are rules that daycarees. are supposed to follow. They're supposed. to search for a criminal history check, sex offender registry entries, and prior. abuse and neglect findings. They're. supposed to check references. Um but the. daycare must actually complete those.

steps without cutting corners. Uh, so. she shouldn't be able to work again, but. that's not to say that a daycare. wouldn't do that, but I sure heck she's. not going to hope she's not going to be. around kids. >> That is such a scary thought. Um, and. and one other thing kind of struck me if. we're talking about scary things to. process. In your experience, had she not. been caught, could this abuse have. escalated. to unimaginable levels? just based on what we know. Absolutely.

Um when when people uh we've seen in. these cases uh that are caregivers, that. are directors, that are around kids and. they they have it in them to do this to. a child who can't fight for themselves, who can't who can't speak for themselves. even. These were two-year-olds. I mean, they to put your hands on a child in a. violent and aggressive manner at that. age and do these things to those kids. Um, those are not people that in.

knowingly take themselves out of that. situation and say, "You know what? I'm. just not meant to be around kids.". They're going to keep doing it until. somebody tells them and puts them away. and says, "No, this is not acceptable.". And hold them fully accountable and. everyone around them that allowed it to. happen. Um, why do these things keep. going on for months and months and. months and multiple hundreds of. incidents. So, could this have. escalated? Could it have even gotten. worse than this? And would it have. continued to go until somebody finally. put a stop to it or something really.

really tragic happened and a child would. uh had catastrophic injuries or or was. unfortunately killed which we've seen in. these cases. The answer to that is yes. It would have gone on until it was. stopped. Thankfully that parent reported. it. >> Yeah. There's something you mentioned. about the age two years old. I mean you. can't get more defenseless or. vulnerable. Um but fortunately they came. away with just you know minor to medium. bruising. say just, but it's awful, but. it could again could have been worse. This is according to the Smith County. Sheriff. Do you think that these.

children will have any memory of what. happened to them? What impact you wonder. the abuse could have on their emotional. or mental development? I mean, you're an. attorney where we talk a lot about what. is the harm, what is the damage when we. talk about lawsuits. Talk to me about. what in your experience you see happen. to children who are abused at a young. age. Yeah, these kids know it. They they. know that this stuff is going on. Um and.

they absolutely will be affected by it. Uh we see short-term impacts um and we. see long-term impacts with repeated. instances of abuse and serious abuse. cases. No doubt about it. Um they will. immediately see uh differences in their. children. Well, each child is different. I will say that each child is different. Um, but we see everything from. nightmares and night terrors uh to uh. sleep issues to regression in their. developmental milestones all the time.

Um trust issues uh fear um of those that. were put into a position of authority. around them as they grow up and develop. Um so it's going to affect them in the. short term and that that time of their. life uh between one and five is is the. most critical age of development um for. our youth and for the children. And so. scientifically we see this with abuse. stuff at those ages uh and the. literature and and the science and what.

we see firsthand with these families and. on our cases is very clear. These kids. will absolutely need ongoing help and. support to process their experiences and. move forward in a healthy way. Um, and. they're going to get over it. Uh, uh, some of them will get over it. Um, and. others it will affect them forever in. various ways that they'll never. necessarily be able to to firsthand know. why they're acting this way, but the. parents and everybody else will. absolutely know it. >> You mentioned cases. Let's end here. Do.

the parents of these children have legal. recourse against the daycare? If so, what does that look like? >> Yeah, that was something we had. discussed back uh last time in December. Um there are three aspects to all. daycare injury cases. Okay. Uh and and. abuse cases. The first one obviously. that you have is the state investigation. here. THS, DFPS. Um and that's where. they they go and they look at the. administrative aspect um of what was the. requirements of this daycare and did.

they have any violations. Um that was. done here. Then you have the criminal. aspect for anything that's a criminal. act which is in the process of. concluding here thankfully. Um and the. third prong of all these cases is the. civil prong and that's where the actual. victims and the families they have a. voice to hold the daycare accountable. for negligence and gross negligence. Um. but also the damages get brought to. light. Different questions get answered. in those cases and they get held civily. liable. Um and that that three-prong.

approach is absolutely legitimate here. It's valid here. And each of these. families has a claim if they wanted a. civil case um that will look into uh and. pull the evidence of um you know was. this a qualified caregiver? Were they. trained? Were they supervised? All the. answers to which we we understand now is. the answer is no. Um, and were these. kids uh damaged? And that's specific to. each family um and their children. Uh. were there damages and was there gross.

negligence, right? Um was this reckless. behavior? And absolutely it was. So yes, there is there are civil cases available. for these families just like they are in. every case uh where there's a daycare. injury or abuse um or a death at a. daycare involving a child. Those are. significant parts of the full picture of. holding the daycare accountable because. the daycare is the system, Jesse. You. know, and that's one of the most. important things is the one bad apple of.

a caregiver uh isn't going to stop a. problem if the whole system as a whole. is allowing these things to continue to. go on. And that's really what we focus. on in our cases on these civil cases is. we want to make sure to get to the root. cause so that way we can determine how. it happened and to prevent it from ever. happening again. And that's our parents. number one things when they call us. How. can we hold them accountable to make. sure that this doesn't happen to another. child? What happened to mine? Um and.

that that is available here. >> That's uh that's an important point and. that's the point I want to leave on. Russell Button, thank you so much for. coming on and thank you so much for the. work that you do. Really appreciate it. >> Thank you, Jesse. Appreciate you. >> And that is all we have for you right. now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us. And as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcast. You go follow. me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll see you next time. [Music].