The agency received a complaint Tuesday that Jeanie Alcalar, the day care's owner, was throwing food on the floor and having infants pick it up and eat it, covering a baby's face with a towel and putting pepper on a baby's thumb.
An investigator visited the site on Tuesday and, according to an affidavit, saw black pepper on an infant's crib sheet. When questioned, Alcalar told the investigator that the infant must have tracked it in from the outside from her shoes. However, the investigator didn't find pepper on the infant's shoes and Alcalar then said that she had pepper on her lunch, which must have gotten onto her clothes and then into the baby's crib.
Day care minimum standards prohibit putting pepper on an infant's thumb, as it can pose a choking hazard or cause severe breathing problems.
“The preponderance of evidence supports a finding that Ms. Alcalar used pepper on the infant as a form of punishment,” according to the affidavit.
The investigator also found evidence that Alcalar placed a cloth over the face of a crying baby who was just nine weeks old, and put Cheetos or snack crackers in the same baby's mouth. There was also evidence showing that Alcalar threw food on the floor and let infants eat it from the floor.
The state will investigate more allegations, including that Alcalar slapped a baby on the cheek so hard that the baby cried, put hot sauce and water in baby bottles and spoon-fed hot sauce to an infant. Alcalar has denied all of the allegations.
Hippo Academy's license was suspended for 30 days, beginning this past Tuesday. The state will inspect the day care during the suspension to ensure that no children are being cared for.
Meanwhile, Alcalar's lawyer, Howard Fomby, reported that Alcalar has received death threats and has had to remove her children from school. Fomby also said that the state investigation stemmed from complaints from people who had seen Alcalar portrayed unfairly on the television series "Toddlers and Tiaras" in February.
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