Parents say older child attacked toddler son at Jersey City daycare

JERSEY CITY (WABC) -- A 20-month-old boy was picked up at a daycare center in New Jersey by his parents who say he was beaten up while he was there.

Police in Jersey City are looking into whether an older child attacked the toddler.

The toddler's parents say when they got the call, they were told it was a minor incident involving another toddler, but when they came to pick him up they say it was a lot worse.

It was Brandon Holmes Junior's second day at daycare.

The 20-month-old woke up during a nap and started playing with a toy when his parents say a 7-year-old girl got upset with the toddler and attacked him Thursday afternoon, scratching his face and arms.

"You just see her go like that and he hit the ground. He was just standing there staring at her," said Courtney Ayers, the victim's mother.

"This young boy got mauled. If you look at his ear, his ear was badly hurt, his face scratched up, his arms scratched," said Louis Mangione, of Spevack Law Firm.

His parents and their attorney say surveillance video shows it took several minutes for an adult to notice what happened at Cradle to Crayons Learning Center in Jersey City.

"What where they doing, where were they? You see in the video it takes a good 5-10 minutes for an adult to show up," said Brandon Holmes, the victim's father.

A police report was filed.

The Department of Children and Families was notified and the owner tells Eyewitness News he fired the worker who was directly in charge of supervising these children, saying over the phone he followed the law.

Brandon's parents say their son is now cautious around older children.

"I just want everyone to tell the truth. He's an innocent child, we shouldn't pick him up on his second day looking like this," Brandon Holmes said.

The family says they're considering a lawsuit.