Toddlers who wandered from daycare unharmed, charges expected for daycare owner & employee

A Willow Springs daycare became the focus of regional media attention last week before formal charges were filed. A parent of a two-year-old boy arrived to pick up the child at daycare, only to discover the children were not at the facility. Two little boys wandered away from a daycare and were discovered by a concerned passerby who called the police.

 

Willow Springs Police Department (WSPD) released a narrative of events on September 1 detailing the August 27 incident that saw the daycare owner and an employee cited for endangering the welfare of a child. As of press time, formal charges had not entered the public record. 

 

Officers with WSPD responded to a dispatch call reporting two toddlers wandering alone in the area of Center and Valley Streets. A concerned citizen observed the toddlers walking unattended, and secured them in her vehicle until police arrived, according to the release. Within six minutes of arrival, according to scanner traffic, Officer Mark Templemere determined the two boys, approximately two years of age, belonged at Cub Club Daycare, located at 308 S. Harris St. 

 

An employee, identified as Alyssa Breidt, approached the officers during the investigation, identifying the two boys as children enrolled in the daycare. 

 

The children had been away from Cub Club for about 30 minutes, according to the release. Breidt allegedly told officers that she had been supervising approximately ten children in an outdoor play area when the boys escaped through a gate. 

 

Child-to-caregiver ratios for licensed daycares recommend a ratio of one-to-eight for groups of two-year-olds, according to a DESE publication. 

 

Officers contacted the owner of Cub Club, identified as Alisa Altermatt. Altermatt and Breidt confirmed that the gates surrounding the outdoor area were secured using only a carabiner. 

 

Both boys were reunited safely with their parents. 

 

Cub Club’s Google profile shows the business is permanently closed. 

 

WSPD’s release thanks the citizen who took steps kept the children safe and contacted law enforcement. 

 

Until formal charges are public, this is an ongoing story. Updates will be published as they are available.