BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — It’s a working parent’s fear, you leave your child in the care of someone else, and then you find out you made a mistake.

“They knew what was going on and they were covering up everything,” said Catalina Soto.

Soto said she learned her 2-year-old was allegedly left in a highchair for hours, potentially to confine the child.

The incident allegedly happened at Rosie’s 24-hour Child Care on Lanneau Court in southwest Bakersfield. 17 News obtained images of security footage depicting Soto’s son in a highchair at the daycare. Soto said from the timecode on the video she saw, he was strapped in the seat from around 10:50 a.m. to 5 p.m. But the most jarring part of the footage, Soto says, shows her son in a sleeping position in the highchair.

“Imagine being 2 years old being trapped in a highchair all day,” Soto said. “It’s not OK.”

She blames the owner of the daycare, Rosie James.

She’s like basically keeping my son hostage, to me that’s how I take it he’s trapped, he can’t run around, he can’t do anything, why would you do that to him? He’s only two,” said Soto.

Owner Rosie James said the situation caught her by surprise.

“I was watching the kids, I was watching her, watching the cameras, I never thought anything was wrong,” said James.

James refused to show 17 News the video, but says an employee was watching Soto’s son when the footage was taken. Soto doesn’t buy it.

“She knows what’s been going on. If she’s sitting there all day, I’m pretty sure she saw from 10 all the way to 5:30 that he was in that highchair even asleep, she knew what was going on,” said Soto.

James admitted the employee made a mistake and has since been fired after Soto confronted her about it and withdrew both of her children from the daycare. James said the situation and the firing are not reflections of her as a caretaker or her care center.

“I have to protect and defend myself and say you know what, I did not mistreat your child. I did not abuse your child, that’s not who I am, and I just can’t have people taking us daycare providers, throwing us under the bus for a little five-minute clip,” said James.

According to the Department of Social Services, Rosie’s 24-hour Child Care has been licensed since 2018, with a capacity of 14. There are no current complaints against the daycare, but the facility has had 15 citations, including two that DDS said posed immediate health, safety, or personal rights impacts.

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The Department of Social Services said, the daycare received one of those citations in September 2023, because it had five infants under the age of 2, with seven older children. The daycare received the other citation in 2021, because it had an assistant at the day care that was not fully fingerprint cleared.

“So many people think I’m a monster or something, and it’s just killing me,” said James.

James said she has been in business for more than 30 years, and firmly defends her love for children.

“Kids are my life, parents trust me with their children, we are the backbone of America, without us people can’t really work, of course,” said James.

Soto said she plans to report the childcare center, and James shares that she plans to retire within months.

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