2 women charged after 5 toddlers injured with glue at Chicago day care
Video allegedly showed one woman applying hot glue to five children.
-- Two staffers at a Chicago day care are facing charges in connection with allegedly injuring five toddlers with a hot glue gun, according to police.
Lizandra Cosme, 32, was arrested and charged with five counts of aggravated battery of a child on Sunday after being seen on closed-circuit video in early December allegedly using a glue gun on five 2-year-olds at the Children’s Learning Place, police said.
According to ABC station WLS in Chicago, prosecutors said the video showed Cosme applying the burning liquid directly to the hands and arms of five children.
“Each of the child victims winced and some whined at the hot glue application,” one Cook County prosecutor said in court.
Cosme, the prosecutor stated, tried to apply burn balm to one of the children when she spotted marks beginning to form.
Cosme allegedly tried to cover up the incident when she asked a father if his child’s burns were suffered at home, according to WLS, citing prosecutors.
It wasn’t until another mother, an ER physician, noticed the burn injuries and reported them to the day care's director that they became aware of what was happening, WLS reported.
Cosme is due back in court on Dec. 26. It is unclear whether she entered a plea.
A second woman, Susana Gonzalez, 27, was hit with five misdemeanor charges of causing the circumstances of child endangerment, police said. It is not clear when she is back in court or whether she entered a plea.
Before a day care employee referred ABC News to a spokesperson, the employee said both Cosme and Gonzalez were terminated “the same day of” the alleged incidents.
ABC News’ attempts to reach the day care’s spokeswoman were unsuccessful.
The day care spokeswoman sent an email to WLS stating that the day care is “working with investigators” and said “the well-being of our students is paramount.”