Mom: 1-year-old daughter suffered third-degree burn at Pearland day care

PEARLAND, Texas (KTRK) -- A mother wants answers after her toddler came home from her daycare with a third-degree burn.

Samantha Gomez said when she picked up her daughter, Esmee, from Stepping Stones Learning Center on West Oaks Blvd in Pearland on April 5, she had a serious burn on the back of her left leg.

"It was bad. It was raw. It was blistered," Gomez said.

Esmee is just a year and a half old and not very verbal.

"You don't expect something like that to happen to your child and when it does, it's mind-blowing and painful," Gomez told Eyewitness News.

She said the day care employees denied the injury happened while in their care. Gomez said her daughter did not have the burn when she dropped her off.

ABC13 has confirmed Pearland police and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services are investigating.

According to state records, the daycare was investigated twice in 2015 after several complaints. In both instances, investigators found no deficiencies.

Stepping Stones Learning Center did not respond to a request for comment.

Gomez, who withdrew her children after the injury, thinks the punishment should be severe.

"I believe the daycare should be shut down. It's really traumatizing," she added.

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