Day Care Closed Following Abuse Charges

The baby girl is currently in rehabilitation to recover from injuries police say occurred in August.

On August 25, the baby's mother picked up her daughter at Lisa Allen's in-home day care center. She rushed the girl to Johnston Memorial Hospital. The child then spent 16 days at Duke Medical Center.

Detective Chris Strickland saw the child after she was transferred to Duke, and says the injuries were serious.

Strickland says a three-week investigation revealed the abuse happened at the day care. Lisa Allen has been charged with one count of felony child abuse. Allen has been released from jail on bond.

The day center's license has been suspended by the state while they, and the Department of Social Services, complete their investigations. The state files show no other complaints about Allen's day care.

Elaine Dean used to take her daughter Emily to the day care when Emily was a newborn. "I thought it was strange that she didn't want me to just pop in during the day to visit with her," she said. "Now I know that they have routines in day care and that could interfere with other kids, but that bothered me."

Then, Dean noticed her daughter's diapers weren't changed often enough, so she acted on her instincts and took Emily out of Allen's day care.

"If I had just know her, it'd be a different story," Dean said, "but to know that my child was actually there, I'm just so thankful I followed my gut instinct and got her out."

She hopes other parents will learn from her experience. "Anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, act on it, this is your child you're talking about, you've got to be the parent for that child, take care of that child, do whatever you have to do to make sure that child stays safe."