Employees at a Spanish nursery who were arrested over alleged child abuse forced victims to eat and choked them, a whistleblower has revealed.
Authorities have already opened an investigation into the case, which happened at the Cascanueces nursery in Torrejon de Ardoz, Madrid.
Now Nicole – a student who took the footage of the horrific incidents, which included a toddler being slammed against a wall – has revealed the full extent of the abuse.
At first, nothing seemed unusual, but the ex-employees – all of whom are under investigation – showed their true colours at lunchtime.
‘Before entering the dining room, the children would start crying, they would do many ugly things to them,’ she told Spanish outlet Antena 3.
‘They would force them to eat, they would choke them, they would grab them.
‘They threatened one-year-olds that they were going to eat food off the floor.’
The shocking video, which was sent to her mother Carol before being forwarded to the media and police, has left parents and authorities demanding answers from the nursery.
Nicole – a student who secretly filmed the horrific incidents, which included a toddler being slammed against a wall – has now revealed the full extent of the abuse
‘Before entering the dining room, the children would start crying, they would do many ugly things to them,’ she said
Four Spanish nursery workers have been arrested after one woman was caught on camera abusing a toddler
The footage was secretly filmed by a student on a work placement at the Cascanueces nursery in Torrejon de Ardoz, Madrid
It shows a female staff member grabbing a young toddler and slamming him against a wall as she squeezes his face.
‘Don’t spit out your food!’ she screams at him, as the terrified young child cries in despair.
‘I’m so sick of you,’ she continues to say.
The woman repeatedly pushes the tot’s head against the wall, before she turns him around and pins him down on to her lap and begins to force-feed him.
‘If you spit it out I will put it back in,’ she tells the child, before saying: ‘If you vomit, you are f***ed.’
Even more disturbingly, another member of staff can be seen in the background, unfazed by the cruel treatment.
Spanish police have arrested two employees for the alleged abuse of a child, while two others have been arrested for failing to report the appalling incident, a police spokesman said.
The daycare centre has since been shut, with a group of parents gathering outside last Friday to protest.
The nursery worker filmed slamming toddler against wall moans about losing her job in foul-mouthed rant after being released from custody
The Cascanueces nursery, which is still closed after the incident
One horrified mother called Nancy told Spanish news outlet Antena 3 she has not been able to sleep and cannot help but imagine what awful treatment her 18-month-daughter might have endured.
‘Everything we’ve seen is engraved in my mind,’ she said.
Nancy also revealed that her toddler had recently experienced a sudden loss in appetite, and said that after seeing the shocking footage of a child being force fed, she now understands why her daughter might have been refusing to eat.
However, one of the women involved in the horrific case seemed to show no remorse as she appeared in court last Friday afternoon.
Speaking to an interviewer outside the Torrejon de Ardoz courthouse, the unnamed woman said: ‘It’s your f***ing fault. I’m on the street, I have two daughters to support and a mortgage to pay.’