After an evening of heated public comments at the April 27 South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education meeting and ahead of a scheduled “Justice for Daylan” rally on April 29, the South Orange Police provided an update on an investigation into an incident on March 27 at Montrose Early Childhood Center in which a teacher allegedly held a 4-year-old student with autism named Daylan Wilkins upside down and shook him by his ankles.
The release states that the parent of the child reported the incident to the SOPD on March 29. The SOPD in turn reported the incident to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office on March 30.
“Since that day, the Division of Child Permanency and Protection, the Essex Country’s Prosecutor’s Office and the South Orange Police Department have been working together to gather the facts of this case and any evidence available that might support criminal charges if appropriate,” reads the release.
The SOPD release also urges calm:
Allegations of this kind are particularly troubling where a child may have been the victim of physical abuse. No parent should ever feel that their child is anything but safe when left in the care of faculty at any school.
That being said, it is also important that everyone receives due process when accused of any act, especially one that may be deemed criminal.
See the full release below.
See public comments at the BOE meeting here, beginning at around the 2:44 mark.
In a followup with Village Green, SOPD Chief Ernesto Morillo said that the PD had recently been in contact with the child’s mother:
My detectives last spoke to Ms. Wilkins about 2 days ago after she returned a call to them.
I have not spoken to Ms. Wilkins myself because my detectives are best suited to go over their progress with her and be able to answer her questions real time.
The detectives are dealing with many moving parts and are careful not to frustrate a victim by inundating them with pieces of the investigation at a time. Many times, that is how a case is put together and we are careful on how we deliver our information.
We must also be careful not to divulge information that may compromise the investigation because we need cooperation from everyone involved. Many times if people feel that they will be exposed to any type of liability because of what they are seeing/hearing in the media, they will refer us to attorneys who rightfully will protect their client’s interest and advise against speaking to us.
There is no reason for us to keep Ms. Wilkins in the dark. My detectives are instructed to keep her updated of any developments. Currently, we are working with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and DCP&P to ensure that a thorough investigation is conducted and are awaiting further guidance.
Village Green also noted that, per the release, the school district did not notify the police of the incident and asked if SOMSD was required to communicate such incidents with the SOPD per a memorandum of understanding with the police.
Morillo responded: “The principal [Bonita Samuels] did not notify us prior to that. The principal apparently was trying to determine herself what had occurred and whether it met the criteria of automatic reporting to law enforcement. She did however reach out to DCP&P immediately.”
Village Green is reaching out to the South Orange-Maplewood School District and will update this story with any response.
