Mom finds her baby alone, locked inside R.I. daycare

JOHNSTON, R.I. — A 9-month-old baby was left alone at a locked Rhode Island day care center for nearly an hour when workers shut the place down for the night, apparently forgetting the child was there.

The baby’s mother, Julia Castillo, says she came to pick up her son Monday at the My Special Place Early Learning Center in Johnston, only to find the center locked and no one around. A neighbor heard her yelling and banging on the door and helped her get inside, where she found her baby boy crying in a crib.

The day care owner, Jessica Faiola, says the child’s mother did not sign the baby in when she dropped him off. She calls it a “crazy mistake” and doesn’t want to point fingers.

Kevin Savage, of the state Department of Children, Youth and Families, says the center has been put on probation.