‘We feel sick about it’: Family traumatized, parents outraged after daycare educator is charged with sexual assault

A former employee at an Edmonton daycare has been charged with sexual assault. CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson reports.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of 32-year-old Dilpreet Chawla, a former daycare educator charged with sexually assaulting a child in Edmonton.

Court documents show Chawla is charged with sexual assault, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching for incidents that occurred between January and May of this year.

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The mother of the four-year-old girl allegedly targeted by Chawla spoke to CTV News Edmonton this week.

She said her daughter first told her what happened in June, asking if she wanted to hear a “silly story” one day after pick up.

“She started talking and immediately my senses went up because what she was telling me wasn’t a silly story at all,” the mother said.

“She was taken into a shed and … she was essentially played a game with in the shed.”

CTV News is withholding the mother’s identity to protect the privacy of her daughter.

She said the abuse happened at Willowbrae Academy Millcreek.

“At first, it’s absolute disbelief. As a parent you’re thinking, I have a four-year-old daughter who is extremely bright, extremely articulate for her age, we’ve taught her all about body safety, we’ve taught her about body parts. And here she’s telling me a story and I know it has to be true.”

Parents said Chawla was an educator at Willowbrae for several years but he was immediately put on administrative leave when the allegations were brought to daycare staff.

“They were in disbelief as well. They were shocked. I think I did more consoling of the daycare staff than they did back because they were so surprised,” the mother said.

She said Edmonton police got involved and Chawla was charged last month, however, he has yet to be arrested.

Edmonton Police Service (EPS) would not say where they believe the accused is or provide any details about the case because “it is currently before the criminal courts.”

Parents question daycare’s response

The girl’s mother said the daycare appeared to take the situation seriously at first, but in the weeks following the complaint, she became concerned about the lack of information being disclosed to parents.

“Finally I did receive a report from (the licensing office). The daycare did release that report to me and said they were going to be releasing it to the general population very soon.

“I immediately got back to them and said it was a very vague report and I felt it didn’t empower the clients or patrons of the daycare to be able to go home and talk to their kids.”

The report – provided to CTV News Edmonton by the mother – states the daycare self-reported an “allegation of abuse” to the Early Learning and Child Care Office on June 18.

It goes on to say “an allegation was made that there was an inappropriate interaction between a staff member and a child in the shed in the program’s outdoor play space.”.

The report states a non-compliance was issued to the daycare for not adhering to the principles and matters in the “approved program plan” of supporting and preserving the safety, security, well-being and development of a child.

Lesley Kosinski and Kimo Mann told CTV News Edmonton their son attended the daycare for more than three years while Chawla was an educator.

“The first question the parents asked is, ‘What happened?’ Because nobody has gotten the whole story,” said Kosinski.

The parents said their son was quite close with Chawla.

“It sounds disturbing to say but since we started there, there was a special bond between them. We just thought, wow, this person has a special connection with our child and we trusted them,” Kosinski said.

“You’re left thinking, how did we not see this?” Mann added.

Both called what Chawla is accused of “devastating” and “disgusting” and said they wished the daycare had been more transparent about what was alleged.

“It’s still shocking and we feel sick about it every day,” added Mann.

Daycare apologizes for upsetting parents

In a statement to CTV News Edmonton, Willowbrae Academy Millcreek said as soon as it was made aware of the allegation, it took immediate action by removing the staff member from the premises and contacting authorities.

Management said the “safety and well-being of the children entrusted to our care is our highest priority, and we take this responsibility with the utmost seriousness.”

The statement acknowledged many parents felt there was an unacceptable delay in sharing information.

“We sincerely apologize,” it read.

It also said “while the timing of our communication was guided by not wishing to compromise an ongoing investigation, we recognize the impact this had on families and commit to more transparent updates going forward.”

The daycare said it’s adding additional security cameras on its premises and undertaking a full review of its protocols and policies, including its communication and parental notification processes.

It also urged parents to come forward and share any information with police.

The victim’s mother said the daycare held a town hall about the situation earlier this week but she and her husband were not invited.

“We reached out to the daycare to ask why and the response was, ‘We felt that it was too much additional stress for your family.’ I appreciate that but that’s my decision to make,” she told CTV News Edmonton.

She said after getting a heads up from other families, they did attend and were able to provide more details about their daughter’s experience.

“Thank God we were able to disclose this information so families have that information available to them and are able to go home and talk to their kids.”

Edmonton police have not sent out a news release about the charges.