04.14/17, 9:30cst UPDATE: ROWE was located in Missouri Valley, IA and was taken into custody by the Harrison County Sheriff. No further information at this time.
Omaha Police say a daycare owner is wanted for felony child abuse.
On April 3rd, police received a complaint from the parents of a 4-year-old girl who reported that 58-year-old Lynn Rowe physically abused their daughter while in her care. Rowe owns Lynn's Learning Center near 112th and Spring Street.
3 News Now obtained video from the parents of the child. They tell us a former employee took the video. We want to warn you that you do see a woman shaking a child. You also hear her say, "good, I hope it hurts you."
According to the police report, the incident in question happened on March 28th.
"A lot of anger, mixed emotions too. You're mad, you're sad, you're confused, upset, I mean we feel betrayed by her," said the girl's parents, Al and Kelley Meyers. "We considered these people family. We entrusted them with the care of our children."
The Meyers say Rowe has known the family for years. She's watched the 4-year-old since she was 11 weeks old and even watched her older brother.
"When he saw the video, he had made the statement that this had happened to him and that he had been instructed not to talk about it," added Meyers.
The parents confronted Rowe Sunday and again on Monday. They say Rowe downplayed the situation and blamed it on the girl.
"That was probably as upsetting as the video – hearing her deflect and minimize the actions until she realized we had a video of it," said Meyers.
The parents want to ensure Rowe is no longer allowed to work with children so this doesn't happen to any more kids.
"You always hear oh that's never going to happen to here or that happened to them it can't happen to us. Well we were no different," they said.
On Wednesday, police obtained a felony arrest warrant for Rowe for child abuse. The Metro Fugitive Task Force has not been able to locate Rowe. Anyone with information about her whereabouts should call the Omaha Police Special Victims Unit at 402-444-5636 or Crime Stoppers at 444-STOP.
Police are investigating whether other children were subjected to abuse or neglect at Lynn's Learning Center. Any parent who believes their child may be a victim is asked to contact the Special Victims Unit.
