CARROLLTON, Texas — The teacher accused of abusing a 3-year-old child at Parker-Chase Preschool in Carrollton, Nyomi Reyes, pleaded guilty to charges of reckless injury to a child, McCathern Law announced Tuesday.
According to the law firm, which is representing the family of the child in their lawsuit against the school, the guilty plea happened during a court session where Reyes reportedly admitted her involvement in the abuse.
The abuse, which the child's mother Vanessa Ippolito alleges happened in March 2023, resulted in several bruises on the child's bottom.
Quickly after Ippolito discovered the bruises, she pulled her son out of the preschool, according to the law firm. Reyes was later criminally charged for injury to a child.
While this guilty plea may serve as a moment of validation to the parents' claims, the law firm says there's still work to be done to get justice.
"Ms. Reyes has taken the first step toward rectifying the situation by admitting her actions in open court. This crucial acknowledgment eds the prolonged gas-lighting and finger-pointing that has persisted for nearly 18 months," Noah McCathern of McCathern Law said in a press release. "There is now irrefutable evidence of the repeated physical abuse inflicted on my client by Reyes and likely her co-teacher while the child was at Parker-Chase Preschool, an Endeavor Schools subsidiary. Sadly, Parker-Chase refuses to accept responsibility for their actions.”
The law firm added that this was allegedly not an isolated incident and that other families have reported this type of abuse at Parker-Chase. However, they did not disclose details on the alleged additional cases.
McCathern Law said in the release that because there were multiple teachers in the room where the alleged abuse occurred and because it happened for several days, the preschool had no acceptable excuse for not being aware that it was happening.
"The legal team at McCathern Law is committed to ensuring that those responsible for the abuse are held accountable and that such incidents are thoroughly addressed so that no future child will have to endure this type of abuse," the law firm said in the press release.
