Parents suing daycare for $5M

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - The parents claim a little boy sexually assaulted their 4-year-old-daughter. Now, they are suing a daycare for $5 million, blaming workers for negligence.

The owner of Starchild Academy in Waterford Lakes denies all allegations, and results of an investigation done by the Department of Children and Families do favor the daycare.

“It is absolutely absurd!" said Wendy Cowan, who pays $650 a month to send her son to the Starchild Academy . "It's just sad that we're in such a desperate financial situation in this economy that people will go to such great lengths to get a payday," added Cowan.

According to the lawsuit, the parents said their child "was molested and otherwise touched in a sexually inappropriate manner by another student."

They allege it happened in various locations and said their child experienced trauma, psychological and emotional injuries, and the loss of enjoyment.

"Our agency would not consider a child, at that young of age, a perpetrator,” said Carrie Hoeppner with DCF, referring to the boy accused of molesting the girl. “Therefore, our role is to insure that the child is not a victim of child abuse themselves [sic]."

Hoeppner said the daycare is in compliance with the licensing agency.

"One of the reasons that these children are put in a different category and excluded is maybe their ability to not really understand with the same motivation a 16-year-old or 30-year-old would," Hoeppner said.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office was also notified; they determined that this was not a criminal matter.