Day Care Closes After Assault Charges Are Filed Mother Finds Series Of Bruises On 8-Year-Old Child’s Cheek, Neck, Back

Angela Short arrived at her child’s Cheney day care and was greeted by a startling sight: 8-year-old Amanda holding an ice pack to her cheek.

The wounds beneath the ice pack - a bruised cheek, neck and back - were allegedly caused by the day care owner, Brenda Goodwin.

“When she pulled the ice pack away, I just came unglued,” Short said.

As a result of the May 23 incident at Kid’s Place, Goodwin has been charged with fourth-degree assault for allegedly slapping, biting and throwing the girl.

Goodwin closed the day care last Friday, the day the charges were filed.

State Child Protective Services has launched an investigation.

Goodwin’s license to care for up to 12 children could be revoked if the abuse allegation is substantiated.

This isn’t the first time Goodwin has been accused of hitting children she’s paid to care for.

Goodwin was manager of Kid’s House, a church-run day care that closed in February 1995 after state child care officials found a “chaotic environment” and heard allegations of abuse.

Those allegations were not substantiated, but Tim Nelson, regional manager of the Office of Child Care Policy, regrets granting Goodwin a license for Kid’s Place, an in-home day care for 12 children.

“In hindsight, I wish we hadn’t licensed her as family home,” Nelson said.

CPS officials declined comment, citing an ongoing investigation. It should be completed next month.

Goodwin refused to comment, referring calls to her attorney, Frank Cikutovich. He couldn’t be reached late Wednesday.

Amanda Short, a second-grader at Salnave Elementary School, was in Goodwin’s care for more than year. Angela Short is a Cheney accountant and student at Eastern Washington University.

According to Short, Goodwin admitted slapping Amanda. Goodwin told her Amanda was disciplined for throwing “a tantrum” and refusing to clean up a recreation room.

Amanda told her mother that Goodwin also bit her on the right cheek and threw her into a chair that slammed against a bookcase.

Photographs taken by Cheney police show bruises on the girl’s cheek, neck and back, as well as scratches on her cheek and back, according to Sgt. Larry Smith.

Within a half-hour of seeing Amanda’s wounds, Short pressed assault charges.

Problems with Goodwin first surfaced in a 1994 state inspection of Kid’s House.

Workers at the large day-care center told investigators that Goodwin would “fly off the handle” when disciplining kids, Nelson said. But other workers attributed alleged abuses to another worker.

Goodwin applied again for a child-care license in December 1995. The state agency debated giving Goodwin a new license, but decided with a smaller caseload, Goodwin could be a good provider, Nelson said.

Short says Amanda’s black eye and other bruises are healed, but her daughter is still upset. So is Short.

“This is one of a parent’s worst nightmares,” she said.

, DataTimes