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Victorum Learning Center, located at 6783 Staeger Road in Celina, has three incident reports involving child abuse which still remain under investigation by the Mercer County Sheriff's Office.
CELINA - The Mercer County Sheriff's Office is investigating reports of potential child abuse at the former Kids Kastle child care center, according to deputy incident reports.
Located at 6783 Staeger Road, Victorum Learning Center has at least three incident reports in which deputies were contacted about possible child abuse and remain under investigation, according to the reports. The reports were obtained through a public records request by The Daily Standard.
Kids Kastle was purchased by Victorum Learning Center of Dayton in October. The center has four locations and is owned by Vince Pecoraro, a Dayton-area U.S. Air Force civil servant, real estate agent and real estate investor.
The Mercer County Sheriff's Office has three open investigations stemming from reports that were filed on July 12 and July 21, according to the incident reports. The reports list "child abuse" as the nature of the incidents.
The first report from July 12 says the sheriff's office was contacted by Mercer County Job and Family Services in regards to "a couple of" unspecified complaints they had received about Victorum Learning Center. The incidents are being investigated by both agencies, according to the report.
A second report from July 12 states the sheriff's office was contacted by Mercer County JFS in reference to a possible child abuse case at the center, which remains under investigation by the sheriff's office.
A third incident report initiated on July 21 says the sheriff's office was contacted in reference to a possible child abuse case at the center, which also remains under investigation.
Kimerly Collins, director of communications for Victorum Learning Center, said there is no investigation into the learning center itself and that the center is coopering with local law enforcement.
She said the executive team of Victorum Learning Center was unaware of the allegations of child abuse happening at the center at the time. Collins said that corrective measures have been taken and additional training has been put into place.
The investigations arrive in addition to a slew of sudden resignations by staff at the center on July 21, leading Victorum Learning Center officials to put families on a "wait list" and disenroll some families.
Collins said the center had about 22 staff members when Victorum Learning Center took over in October. The child care center now has 16 staff members.
One administrator and five teachers resigned without notice on July 21, she said. Parents were notified as soon as possible, Collins said, which she estimated was July 21-22.
The child care center was unable to maintain safe staff-to-child ratios after the exodus, she said.
"The previous site administrator was in charge of scheduling teachers to make sure the staff was in ratio, and obviously (that was not being done) by the administrator," Collins said. "Staff left without notice and remain unable to be contacted."
Some families were notified they would be put on a "wait list" until the center can get back up to staff, she said. Families were also put into a lottery to determine who would continue to receive services. She said parents will be notified by the end of next week if they will be waitlisted or withdrawn.
Although Collins claimed no families were dropped from the program, she said five families withdrew their children from the center and 20 families were put onto the wait list. Families who withdraw or are waitlisted will be refunded, she said.
At the same time, social media posts and reviews of the Celina location on Google paint a blurrier picture.
Several families claim they were suddenly left without childcare on a weekend and had to scramble to find alternative arrangements before the work week began. Some said employees have received the brunt of the blame for the center's issues, which they attributed to Victorum Learning Center's takeover. Other parents said part time care has been removed entirely and that families with outstanding balances would be disenrolled.
In addition, the Celina location was recently inspected by the Ohio Department of Education/Department of Job and Family Services for leaving children unattended and not maintaining required staff/child ratios.
The inspection began as a result of a complaint, according to an inspection summary report from July 13. Inspections can be found through childcaresearch.ohio.gov, a joint website by ODE/ODJFS.
The inspector reported that children were left unattended more than once, as one teacher was supervising two classrooms at the same time because another teacher for the second classroom had not arrived yet.
In addition, the staff-to-child ratio for a group of school age children was one child care staff member for 22 children. A ratio of one staff member for a group of eight children under two and a half years old was also reported, according to the inspection.
The learning center must submit a corrective action plan for the incidents by Aug. 12, the inspection reads.
Collins said despite the staff shortages and uncertainty, Victorum Learning Center has no plans of closing.
"We know there's a need for child care in the area, and we're trying to regain the community's trust," she said. She said the center is hiring new teachers who will job shadow before entering the classroom and undergo additional training.
