Last night we reported the disturbing case of a three-year-old girl who was taken from a city pre-school and then allegedly sexually assaulted by a 24-year-old man. Tonight we have more details about the incident which occurred back in September at the Catholic Child Development Pre-School. We are using the name of the school tonight because the principal today told 7NEWS the child wasn't abducted but rather school officials willingly handed her over to the accused Joseph Hernandez who claimed he had come to pick her up but later said he did so by mistake. But the school insists that staffers handed over to the child to Hernandez and that's what the girl's mother Tanya Velasquez has a problem with. She agreed to speak with us today saying the school broke protocol when they handed her daughter over to a stranger.
Tanya Velasquez, Mother of Abuse Victim
"A young man went to the school and picked her up stating that we sent him to pick up the child from school. Not knowing how long the child was away from school, the young man brought him back and set him down on the lane and made her walk back to the school. The teacher's didn't pay any attention or enough attention to know that something was wrong with the child because when I reached there the child was playing on the swing. She came to me and the teacher stated that someone came and picked her up and took her and apparently dropped her at the lane and made her walk back. When we reached home she is a very active child, she is mischievous, so when we reached home and the child just took off her uniform blouse and her dress and curled up in the chair, her grandmother said Tanya something is wrong with your baby. So that is when I told her that teacher said a young man came and picked her up and brought her back. But for what length we can't say. So we took her to the hospital and that is when…"
Keith Swift,
This guy is saying he just made a mistake. He picked up your daughter by mistake.
Tanya Velasquez,
"Which adult would pick up his own child by mistake? No that obviously is a lie. He did not have a child there. Because the principal or the teacher never paid enough attention to the person because they know and I explain to them and even showed them who was supposed to pick up this child from school."
Keith Swift,
Who are you mad at - this man or the school? Who are you angry with?
Tanya Velasquez,
"I am angry with both of them; the school and him. Well the principal because she has been very uncooperative with us; I don't know if she cooperated with the police. And then this man because look at my baby: what is it on her that he can see? You know on a three year old child who is not even fully developed for him to want to do something like this to her."
Tanya Velasquez has since removed her daughter from the school. In her defense the school principal said the child was picked up 45 minutes after the bell rang and added that the accused Hernandez only had the child for three minutes. Hernandez originally pleaded guilty in court yesterday but recanted his plea after he heard details of the charges. The 24 year old is sitting in jail tonight until his next court appearance on December 22nd. We note that a doctor's examination found that there was no penetration, but the child did have a laceration in the genital area.