New Jersey parents say their baby was found with a marijuana vape pen in her mouth at Voorhees day care
How did a baby end up with a marijuana vape pen at day care? That's what two South Jersey parents are asking after they say their 10-month-old was found with a vape pen in her mouth.
Stephanie and Sean Burns said the vape pen fell out of a staffer's pocket in the infant room and their daughter was the one to pick it up. They shared their story exclusively with CBS News Philadelphia investigative reporter Liz Crawford.
This past July, Stephanie Burns said she received a shocking phone call from the director at the Malvern School in Voorhees, where two of her children were enrolled. She said the director, who was crying on the phone, told them their daughter was found with a marijuana vape pen.
"She goes, 'It was in and out of her mouth a few times. We're not sure which end of the vaper pen it was,'" Stephanie Burns said.
The parents said the director told them the vape pen fell out of one of the staffer's pockets.
They said they decided to call their pediatrician, poison control and the police, and they requested to see the video footage of the incident. About a week later, Stephanie and Sean Burns said the day care allowed them to view the video at their location, but the parents were only permitted to view three minutes of footage, which showed their daughter with the vape pen in her mouth, crawling around and pulling up on furniture.
"She crawls over to that (shelf), pushes herself up and is banging her hands on the shelf with the pen wagging in her mouth," Stephanie Burns said.
Sean Burns said the vape pen was in her mouth for almost the entire three minutes they were shown.
The parents said they were not allowed to receive a copy of the video of their child or record the three minutes the day care showed them.
The Burns family never returned to the Malvern School and had to quickly find a new day care for their two children. Stephanie Burns said she asked prospective day cares where teachers keep their belongings and whether they drug test their teachers.
"Things that I never thought we'd have to ask, because I thought that all this stuff was just taken care of and handled," she said.
The parents have now filed a lawsuit and said they want others to know about their experience to prevent more incidents like this.
CBS News Philadelphia reached out to the Malvern School in Voorhees to ask about this situation. The person who answered the phone said they have no comment at this time.
The family says their daughter is OK and they are still monitoring her for any long-term issues.
