Dad Outraged After School Allows Woman To Take Wrong Child From Paterson School
PATERSON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A New Jersey father is outraged after a stranger was allowed to take his young daughter home from school.
As CBS 2's Emily Smith reported, Gemar Mills said his 3-year-old daughter Madison left school with a stranger in her 50s on Monday. It happened at the Dale Avenue School in Paterson.
"She said 'oh daddy I got to the house and an old man said take her out of here because that's not our baby,'" Mills said. "So she remembers that."
Mills said he doesn't know why the woman didn't realize she had the wrong child, but that she told a school aide she was picking up her granddaughter -- a child she supposedly had not seen for nine months, Smith reported.
The woman then left with Madison, who happens to have the same name as the woman's grandchild.
Mills said the dismissal happened on the playground without any paperwork or identification.
"Nothing was verified. They said it looked like she knew her, so she should go," Mills said.
He said school officials later called the grandmother, who returned to the school with Madison to pick up the right child.
According to Mills, police were not called until later.
The school district said in a statement the incident was a case of mistaken identity that was realized within minutes, and that disciplinary action was taken against two staff members, Smith reported.
"This school has taken additional steps to further tighten up security during dismissal of students," a Paterson Public Schools spokesperson added.
Michelle Boria said she went through a lot to pick up her grandchildren on Tuesday, but still isn't sure she feels her grandchildren are safe.
"She had to get my ID, then she had to scan it and put it in the files and they let me get my grandkids," she said.
Mills said the school has the right policies in place, but feels the administrators can't be trusted to enforce them since no one had permission to get his little girl from school except his wife or himself.
A school security officer and a teaching assistant have been suspended with pay.
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