The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office recently took Brandon Vigil, a 32-year-old former daycare employee, into custody following allegations of child abuse and harassment that purportedly occurred during his tenure as a preschool teacher in Centennial. According to Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office on social media, Vigil faces 28 counts of child abuse and 23 counts of harassment, adding up to 51 criminal charges in total.
It all began with a report from September 5, 2024, when a concerned teacher's aide filled in for a colleague and witnessed Vigil in an alarming state. Already in a bad mood, he had him, with Vigil seen throwing sleeping pads in a classroom occupied by toddlers, exhibiting visible frustration when the little ones impeded his path. The situation escalated to the point where he struck one child with an open hand and uttered a racial slur as the child cried, which prompted the aide to promptly notify both the daycare's director and law enforcement.
Vigil surrendered himself to the Arapahoe County Detention Facility on February 10, after investigators who delved into the daycare evidence uncovered numerous cases of detrimental and humiliating behavior directed at the children, all of whom were only two years old. The scrutiny led to an arrest warrant being issued for Vigil, who had been teaching at the preschool from February 2024 until his termination on September 6, 2024.
The investigation uncovered evidence that pointed to a pattern of abuse. Handling the serious allegations, investigators pored over recordings and testimonies from the daycare that depicted numerous troubling interactions between Vigil and the young children in his care. Many of these encounters were discovered to include "harmful, degrading, and humiliating actions" towards the toddlers, consistent with the initial report which led to Vigil's arrest. The daycare, whose commitment to the safety of its attendees is surely now under the microscope, has not stated at the time of reporting.
