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Article from WTHR
INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) – A former preschool teacher faces multiple charges of child molestation for what IMPD Child Abuse detectives say happened at an Indianapolis day care.
According to court documents, 41-year-old Andrew Seal of Indianapolis admitted to touching the young female victims during naptime at Day Star Child Care. The day care is located at the Englewood Christian Church at Rural and Washington streets on the east side of Indianapolis.
In one case, a mother told police her daughter surprised her when she suddenly said to her that she liked when Mr. Andy touched her private parts.
Day Star Child Care managers are fully cooperating with investigators, but have also changed some rules to help make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Marion County prosecutors filed a total of six felony child molestation charges involving three victims.
The court documents also say a four-year-old told her mother, “Mr. Andy touches her in the classroom while the other kids are sleeping.” In the same document, Seal admits the inappropriate touching happened “on three different occasions in April of 2016.”
During interviews with one of the leading child abuse detectives for IMPD, police learned from Seal’s co-workers that he would take his lunch during naptime at the day care and return to the facility to relieve other employees. They also revealed that the 41-year-old would lay on pillows near the children during their naptime.
Child abuse experts report that, statistically, 90 percent of child abuse cases involve someone the victim knows.
Emily Perry owns and operates a chain of child advocacy centers called Susie’s Place, with a new office scheduled to open in Terre Haute next spring. Expert interviewers at Susie’s Place are trained to detect when a child has been victimized, because there are usually signs.
“There may be things like bruises, rashes, irritations, infections, things of that nature,” Perry said. “That’s not very common, but there can be those signs people can see. More often than not, we will see behavioral changes in children.”
So far, police say Andrew Seal has confessed to sexually abusing three young girls and, just like his former employer, hope there are no other victims out there.
Either way, Perry wants parents teaching and talking to their kids about guarding their bodies.
“Start that conversation early and talk to them about body safety often,” she said.
As part of the new rules at Day Star Child Care where Seal used to work, no employees can ever be alone with children.
Seal is scheduled to go to court in December on two counts each for the three victims, for a total of six felony charges.
If you or someone you care about was sexually abused and you would like advice from an attorney about the rights and options for victims of child sexual abuse, please contact Crew Janci LLP today for a free, confidential consultation at 1-888-407-0224 or by using our private online form. We will treat you with discretion and respect.
