OVIEDO, Fla. – A father reached out to News 6 after a daycare worker allegedly grabbed his son’s face and hit him with an open hand.
Records show Lucia Moniri was arrested on a child abuse charge in June following the incident at Oviedo Christian Academy on West Broadway Street.
Christopher Gauvin said his wife picked up their son, Benjamin, on June 9 and noticed scratches on his face.
“He had three or four scratches just on one side of his face. A little bit of redness on the other side,” said Gauvin.
Gauvin said staff at the daycare told the family that it was an “accident.” Gauvin asked if he could see video of the incident from the facility’s security cameras. A few days later, he said he was given the opportunity to watch it.
“The teacher walked over, grabbed my son by the face, forcibly put him to the ground, scratched his face, and then proceeded to yell at him and then left the room,” said Gauvin. “And on another video, you see her slapping him in the face.”
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An arrest report for Moniri obtained by News 6 shows an officer with the Oviedo Police Department who responded to the daycare was told by a DCF investigator that there were two videos of the incident. The owner provided both videos to the police, according to the report.
The first reportedly shows the toddler biting another child on the right forearm. Another teacher can be seen running over to help the child who was bitten, while Moniri allegedly is seen “forcefully” grabbing the toddler’s face. The report describes Moniri continuing to “forcibly push and squeeze” his face while speaking in Spanish.
“She grabbed him, squeezed him, sat him down, was yelling at him in profanity and Spanish,” said Gauvin. “Yelling at him to stop biting.”
[BELOW: Father speaks out after teacher accused of grabbing son]
A second video described in the report claims Moniri walked the child to another room and continued to yell, “No biting.” The report stated Moniri “strikes” the child in the mouth with her “open right hand at least 6 times” while he sat on the ground crying.
Moniri also allegedly pulled the toddler up to a standing position, grabbed his face again, and “strikes” his mouth “at last 4 more times with her open left hand,” the report stated.
“I was shocked,” said Gauvin. “You know, he was 18 months or 17 months when this occurred. He bites, but that’s what little children do, you know, and he was screaming.”
News 6 reached out to Moniri Monday, and she referred our crew to her attorney. Her lawyer told us that the video should be watched before anyone makes judgments about what happened. At this point, it has not been released to the public.
We also reached out directly to the Oviedo Christian Academy and asked to speak to the owner. We are waiting to hear back.
State records show the owner used to run another daycare at the same address with the name “All About Kidz.”
[VIDEO: Woman accused of leaving child on hot daycare bus in Oviedo]
Last summer, our News 6 team reported a woman who worked there was arrested after a child was left on a hot bus.
“I grew up in this area,” said Gauvin. “I enrolled him with the hope he’d have a good environment, he’d learn Christian values.”
Online records show Moniri was booked on a charge of child abuse without great bodily harm. Prosecutors have not filed an information or formal charging document.
“It’s very hard, and it’s putting a burden on us,” said Gauvin. “You know, we’re self-employed. We are turning down jobs at this point just because we have to take care of him. And even going to church, you know. We will drop him off, but I’ll go and peek into the room just to make sure he’s OK.”
Update Oct. 15, 2025: The child abuse charges filed against Moniri were ultimately dropped.