PSP reports to the prosecutor’s office the alleged abuse of two children in a kindergarten in Gondomar

The PSP reported to the Ministry of State allegations of alleged abuse of two children that occurred between September 2022 and September 2023 at the Carinhos Escritos kindergarten in Rio Tinto, Gondomar, a police source told Lusa this Monday.

Mothers of a boy and a girl who were in this institution, which combines ATL and a kindergarten, took part on September 21 and 22 at the PSP station in Valbom. This was reported by the publication Correio da Manhã.

The fact that accusations are only now arising, the source explained, is due to the fact that one of the “mothers found a former employee of the institution and told them about the abuse,” and “traces on the children’s bodies coincide with the period when, according to the former employee, there was place of ill-treatment,” a police source also said.

According to him, the case was transferred to the Ministry of Justice.

On the institution’s side, Luis Lourenço, in charge of human resources, said he became aware of two complaints last week through a PSP patrol that arrived at the institution.

From what he learned at the time, he denied the allegations of abuse contained in the complaints, stating that “it is not the daycare’s policy to leave children alone in the hallway.”

“Not a single child in this institution is slapped, insulted or punished, as this is not the way of education,” continues the person in charge in response to the statements of the mothers at the police station, repeating that “it is impossible to abandon [das crianças] for cribs, since they don’t exist.”

And he continued: “There are mattresses that children can rest on without any risk of falling or getting trapped.”

Luis Lourenço also noted that the kindergarten is under construction, “at the request of the General Directorate of Education, but the space for children is reliably protected.”

“We have already talked to the accused, they deny it, and we are taking action,” he said.