Community Corner

Child Abuse Investigation Focuses on Mountain View Preschool

No arrests have been made in on-going investigation, police say.

The Mountain View Police Department reports that a staff member of the Little Acorn School has been accused of inappropriately touching a student.

A press statement indicates that the police received a report from the Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) in the early morning of Wednesday, July 10 and the case has been referred to the MVPD Investigative Services Division (ISD).

The DFCS report alleges that inappropriate touching of a student by a staff member occurred and that based on those allegations the staff members has been placed on administrative leave. The staff member has been barred from the school to avoid interaction with other children. 

Parents have been alerted to the investigation and specially trained police detectives have interviewed the very young children.

There has been no arrest made due to the nature of the investigation procedure.

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"We will not make a determination as to the guilt or innocence of the parties involved until we have collected enough evidence to move forward one way or the other," police spokesman Dan Vicencio said.

The Little Acorn School sits on the grounds of the First Presbyterian Church of Mountain View. It provides childcare to approximately 70 children ages two to five years old. The police department confirms that they interviewed around 60 kids. There are a approximately 15 staff members at the preschool who work with children from all over Silicon Valley.

Find out what's happening in Mountain Viewwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"First and foremost, MVPD wants to safeguard the children and their families from any unnecessary discourse," Sgt. Michael Canfield said. "We take extreme care and caution when handling cases involving young children; and we are fortunate to have experienced detectives on-hand to assist us in doing so."

Questions for the department can be made to michael.canfield@mountainview.gov.


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