A childcare provider was arrested Thursday by Tucson police on suspicion of child abuse after bruises were found all over the body of a 3-year-old boy in her care.
Toni Fierro, 48, was taking care of the boy overnight on July 2 and when he was picked up from her home the next day he had bruises on his biceps, buttocks, face and abrasions on his collar bone, according to court documents.
Fierro runs the daycare from her home near East 29th Street and South Wilmot Road. She told detectives the boy fell out out of the car and she grabbed him by the arm and he landed on his butt, the documents said.
She also said that the toddler fell on rocks and ran into a door. Fierro initially said she only saw bruising on the boy’s arm, but later said she noticed bruising on his buttocks, the documents said.
A doctor said the bruises were caused by blunt force trauma and were not accidental, the documents said. Fierro has been a childcare provider licensed by the Arizona Department of Economic Security for 15 years, according to the documents.
