UNNAMED BOY - 8 months - / Charged: Tyreece Elijah Washington - San Jacinto, CA

SAN JACINTO: Neighbors shocked by child abuse arrest

June 25, 2013; 03:17 PM


   WEBLINK PE: Baby's injuries linked to San Jacinto day care center (June 24, 2013)

Neighbors were shocked Tuesday, June 25, by news of a child abuse arrest of a family member at a home day care in San Jacinto.

Riverside County sheriff’s deputies arrested Tyreece Elijah Washington, 24, on suspicion of felony child abuse and infliction of great bodily injury Monday at Washington Family Child Care in the 1100 block of Lee Ann Circle. He was booked into jail in Banning, with bail set at $40,000.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Lisa McConnell said the child was in stable condition Tuesday after being treated for non-life-threatening injuries. She declined to disclose details about his injuries.

The boy's mother took him to a local hospital, whose staff contacted the Sheriff’s Department.

Laura Osmon, who has lived on the cul-de-sac in the middle-class San Jacinto neighborhood for seven years, said she has visited the day care many times and knows Tyreece Washington.

“It’s a total shock,” Osmon said Tuesday.

She said the family-run child care facility has been operating for one or two years, and Washington helps out with the operation.

She said she does not believe he could have abused the 8-month-old child.

“Nobody in the family has an irate temper,” Osmon said. “I think they are making a big mistake.

“The family (that runs the facility) is a very loving family,” she said. “The lady who watches the kids has total control. She has a soft voice. I’ve heard the kids crying when they have to go home.”

A woman standing in front of the home Tuesday who was identified as a family by neighbors declined to comment.

A spokesperson for the state Department of Social Services’ Community Care Licensing in Sacramento did not immediately return a call seeking information about whether the facility is properly licensed and what, if any, action is being taken against it.

Sayori Baldwin, a spokesman for the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services, declined to comment on the investigation, referring questions to the state agency.

McConnell, the Sheriff's Department spokeswoman, said she did not know of any prior instances in which deputies were called to the child care facility.

http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/hemet/hemet-headlines-index/20130625-san-jacinto-neighbors-shocked-by-child-abuse-arrest.ece