Pennsylvania daycare worker allegedly abused multiple children and deleted evidence, docs say

A Montgomery County daycare worker was charged with abusing multiple children and allegedly deleting security footage to hide the evidence, according to a criminal complaint Thursday. 

Daniel Riley, 47, an employee at Little Lambs Daycare in Lansdale, was charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, tampering with evidence and other offenses, a criminal complaint says. 

Riley worked at Little Lambs Daycare for roughly 20 years as an assistant director, according to the criminal complaint. His responsibilities included opening the facility, watching the children and handling most of the technology at the daycare, including the camera system.

Upper Gwynedd Township first received a report about alleged abuse at the daycare on Sumneytown Pike involving Riley on March 18.

According to the criminal complaint, a parent received a call from a teacher at the daycare who said they witnessed Riley intentionally step on a child's foot/ankle and kick the child. The mother noticed swelling and bruising on her child, and a mark on her boots, where Riley allegedly stepped on the kid, the criminal complaint said. Riley told police that he didn't remember stepping on a child's foot and claimed it wasn't intentional, a criminal complaint said. 

On March 21, Upper Gwynedd Township received another report of suspected child abuse from the mother of a child with autism, according to a criminal complaint. 

Riley allegedly dragged a child across the floor because they wouldn't stop signing, a criminal complaint said. The mother reported that she found an abrasion similar to a rug burn on her child, and took them to a doctor to confirm the injury. 

A teacher at Little Lambs Daycare provided video and photos of some of the incidents of the alleged abuse by Riley, including one where he grabbed a child's face from under their chin and squeezed their cheeks, according to a criminal complaint. 

The criminal complaint also says that Riley allegedly excessively yelled at children, pulled their arms, and used "unreasonable times" for timeouts. 

According to the teacher who reported multiple incidents to police, timeouts are supposed to be as long as the child's age. But in one incident, the child was allegedly put into timeout for 45 minutes. Riley told police two children were fighting/arguing about a bicycle, and that's why he put one of them into timeout. Riley claimed he lost track of the time when he put one child in an "unreasonable timeout," according to a criminal complaint. 

Other teachers at Little Lambs Daycare spoke to investigators and said that Riley also pushed children down into cots during naps and completely forgot them during timeouts while he was on his computer in another direction, a criminal complaint said. 

All of the alleged incidents of abuse involving Riley happened in the preschool room of Little Lambs Daycare, according to the criminal complaint. 

Cameras are located inside the room, and investigators obtained a search warrant to try and get video evidence of Riley allegedly assaulting the children. But when investigators got access to the camera system at Little Lambs Daycare, there were no results for the "preschool room," according to the criminal complaint. Police said there were 58 records in the "media history tab" deleted with other records, the criminal complaint said. 

Riley allegedly used his Samsung Galaxy S9 to access the camera system and delete the files, according to the criminal complaint.