Daycare Owner Allegedly Tied Shoelaces Around Kids’ Necks, Strapped Them To Car Seats For Hours

The owner of a Dallas-area in-home daycare center was jailed Sunday on child endangerment charges after she was accused of keeping infants and toddlers tied to their car seats for hours.

An arrest warrant affidavit alleges that Rebecca Anderson kept the small children tied up in car seats for at least seven hours a day at her Mesquite, Texas, daycare center, Becky's Home Child Care. The affidavit also says the 60-year-old woman yanked a 6-month-old child by the bib around his neck, tying shoelaces around the young children's necks to limit their movement and giving them acetaminophen to quiet them.

One parent caught the alleged abuse on a camera which was mounted on his baby’s car seat, according to the Dallas Fort-Worth Star-Telegram. The video allegedly showed Anderson yanking the child out of a car seat before using a plastic syringe to feed him a substance.

Police shut Becky’s Home Child Care down on Friday after a search that resulted in the removal of nine children, all of whom were medically evaluated.

“While police secured the home, detectives found three children in the master bedroom closet, strapped into plastic car seats,” an arrest affidavit obtained by the Dallas Fort-Worth Star-Telegram states. “The doors were closed, and the lights were off in the room.”

All nine children were allegedly found with cotton shoelaces around their neck.

Police say that after being shown the hidden video footage of the syringe, Anderson admitted to feeding the children Tylenol to make “her job easier.”

Rebecca Anderson

Anderson was booked Sunday night into the Dallas County jail on nine counts of child endangerment with bonds totaling $45,000. Jail records list no attorney for her.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Photo: Dallas County Jail]