

Anna Petrou, Homewood, Illinois Daycare worker at the Learning Lab Preschool and Childcare arrested placing 4 year old boy in trash can as form of discipline for refusing to take nap.
An Illinois daycare worker is accused of leaving a 4 year old boy in the freezing cold before then dumping him in a trash can after the infant refused directives to ‘take a nap.’
Anna Petrou, 58, an employee at The Learning Lab Preschool & Childcare in Homewood, IL was arrested on Thursday on charges of child endangerment following the incident which took place on January 13 according to a release from the Homewood Police Department.
According to cops, Petrou of Homewood, allegedly placed the child in an alley outside the daycare for about 20 seconds in temperatures near 19 degrees after the boy refusing to take his nap time.
4 year old boy’s parents condemn daycare worker
Petrou perhaps having thought better than placing the boy in the below freezing cold then brought the boy back inside only to then place the 4 year old in an empty garbage at the back of the classroom as a form of ‘punishment’.
The episode which was captured on surveillance video took pace in front of other teachers and children.
The boy’s parents reported the incident to authorities later that evening after they picked up their son from daycare, ABC 7 reported.
‘I had no words, especially when I reviewed the tape,’ the victim’s mother, Monica Forte, told the outlet, adding that her son has been clingy since the incident.
‘And my first thing was, of course, I’m crying. And I went to the police station.’
The parent condemned Petrou, who decried the daycare worker’s form of ‘disciplining’ a joke, along with failing to de-escalate the situation properly. Forte said her children will not be returning to the daycare center.

Homewood Daycare releases statement
The boy’s parents are now considering legal action.
‘He did nothing wrong,’ the boy’s father, Justin Barnes told the outlet. ‘It was just way worse than I could imagine. I’m worried about what he feels.”
The incident led to Petrou being fired along with a second daycare worker for failing to intervene.
Said Learning Lab in a released statement, ‘We tried to work cooperatively and transparently with the family. We are working with our licensing agency, DCFS and the Homewood police,’
‘We have shared additional information we became aware of yesterday because we believe it warranted further investigation and possible action against the person who did this. We have also fired a second employee who failed to intervene.’
Not immediately clear was the form of training and guidance, if any, that the daycare center mandated workers to abide by.
Petrou is due to return to court at a future date.