Emailed video spurs arrest of day care owner

SPARKS – The owner of a Sparks child care center has been arrested on suspicion of felony child abuse after a parent emailed a video to social workers that police say depicts her battering a toddler at the day care.

Carla Phillips, who has owned Creative Kids since December 1998, was released on $20,000 bail after her arrest on Monday, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.

Phillips, 53, is accused of hitting a 3-year-old boy in the back of the head twice and swatting his face. She is seen on the video grabbing him by the hair and pulling his head back while grabbing him, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Sparks Justice Court.

Investigators said the boy did not have any known injuries.

Local regulators said neither Phillips nor Creative Kids has been subject to any previous serious complaints.

Police said detectives were alerted to the video recording Aug. 24 by social workers, a day after a parent emailed it to them.

Social workers were able to identify the child in the video and contacted the boy’s mother, who notified police.

Phillips’ work permit card was suspended because of her arrest, said Alice LeDesma, Washoe County Children’s Services coordinator, who oversees the day care licensing program. She said that means Phillips is not even allowed on the premises.

LeDesma said the only previous complaints against Phillips was a 2009 phone call that accused her of not supervising children when they were first dropped off at her center. LeDesma said the issue was resolved.

Semiannual inspections have shown Phillips’ business consistently complied with most regulations, LeDesma said. Minor items, like putting away bleach and securing a gate, were fixed, she said. The last inspection was June 26.