Police in South Carolina are investigating claims by a mother who stated that her child was stabbed at a church daycare.
“This is seriously an isolated incident that is unfortunate but does not reflect our ministry at all,” said Pastor Eric Davis.
According to published reports, a woman told police that her child was attending the Word of God Church’s after school program and when she came to pick him up, she noticed a puncture mark on the child’s hand. The woman stated that when she asked her child what happened, she told authorities that her son said he got in trouble for accidentally poking a girl and that the volunteer used a pencil to puncture his arm several times to show him how it feels.
The mother accuses the volunteer of then telling her son, ‘[you better not] tell your mom’ and reports also says the boy’s mother has pictures of the puncture wounds on her cell phone.
“We express our concern by immediately responding, we called the parents, they were assured that we are concerned about this and it was a peaceful meeting. This incident was unfortunate but we would like to resolve it,” Davis said.
After the allegations, Pastor Davis met with everyone involved, including the volunteer, staff and the boy’s parents. Following the meeting, the volunteer was suspended and immediately removed the same day the accusations were made.
Deputies state that the investigation is ongoing, but Pastor Davis wants to assure everyone that this is the first incident that has ever happened at his church.
“We have touched thousands of lives over the course of 4 years, everything from outreach, to food, clothing, to the homeless, elderly, youth and it’s amazing that one incident can mar all of the work that goes on every day,” said Davis.
