NYC daycare facility permanently closes following cleaning solution incident and prior abuse allegations.

A New York City daycare facility has ceased operations for an unspecified period following an incident where children under its supervision were mistakenly given a cleaning solution from a water pitcher.

This development emerges nearly five months after three staff members at Bright Horizons Daycare faced charges related to alleged abuse, as news broke that a staff member "unintentionally" provided a bleach solution to children on October 27th.

Correspondence from the city's Health Department verified that the preschool division of the facility would close permanently following the children's exposure to a "toxic chemical," as reported by CBS News.

Bright Horizons Daycare subsequently maintained that the event was an error.

"Our foremost commitment is to the safety and welfare of the children entrusted to us," the organization stated in remarks provided to the news source. "Regrettably, the employee erroneously filled the pitcher from a container holding a diluted cleaning mixture, which is prepared daily for sanitizing playthings. This mixture comprises two gallons of water combined with a small quantity of bleach."

The Bright Horizons representative mentioned that a teacher purportedly consumed the cleaning solution as well, noting that they contacted poison control immediately upon identifying the issue.

Bright Horizons at Columbus Circle failed to respond promptly to Us Weekly’s inquiry for comment.

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Erin O’Connor, who directs the NYU Early Childhood Education program, informed CBS New York that she found the incident "alarming." She added, "A fundamental structural safeguard involves ensuring toxic substances are positioned nowhere near a water source intended for children. This makes me question the efficacy of the actions taken following the initial event."

This occurrence happened only months after former staff members Evelyn Vargas, Shakia Henley, and Latia Townes were apprehended for supposedly mistreating as many as nine children between the ages of one and two years old during the summer, according to confirmation from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

Manhattan prosecutors assert that the ex-employees allegedly covered a child's mouth with adhesive tape, struck children with metal water containers, sprayed one child with a bottle containing "soap mixed with water and bleach," and dragged a young girl by her hair, as reported by CBS New York.

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All three former employees entered pleas of not guilty in these cases, which remain pending. Bright Horizons previously informed CBS New York that the organization was collaborating with law enforcement and dedicated to assisting the families whose children were impacted by the reported abuse.

The indictment of the former employees was announced by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on July 30, indicating that each faced numerous charges related to endangering the welfare of a child. Vargas faces extra charges of assault, second-degree strangulation, and attempted assault, while Townes was also charged with three counts of attempted assault in the second degree.

"According to the allegations, these daycare employees subjected several toddlers, all under 24 months old, to abuse and criminal mistreatment," stated District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr. in a July press release. "My office’s Child Abuse Bureau is committed to safeguarding our youngest residents of New York and providing support to them."