A 36-year-old behavioral therapist is facing charges after Colorado Springs police say he tied up a four-year-old child during a private session at a daycare facility in the 2300 block of Academy Place. Joseph Kosse was arrested on Friday, October 30, and booked into the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center on suspicion of second-degree assault and child abuse.
The case began on Oct. 23, when dispatchers received a call about a possible abuse situation at the daycare, according to FOX21 News. Responding officers were told that a four-year-old child had been tied up by a therapist who was not a daycare employee but instead worked as a therapist for the child's family, the station reported.
Four days later, on Oct. 27, the Colorado Springs Police Department's Crimes Against Children Unit took over the investigation, the station's report notes. Investigators completed multiple witness interviews along with a forensic interview with the child before police obtained an arrest warrant for Kosse, who was taken into custody on Friday, October 30.
What the Daycare Says Happened
Springs of Life Children's Center, where the alleged incident occurred, said it had allowed therapy sessions at its facility through Grace Way Collective Behavioral Therapy as an arrangement with the child's family, according to KRDO. A staff member told the outlet that the child was in a one-on-one session with his behavioral therapist in a spare classroom during nap time when the incident is alleged to have taken place.
The center's assistant director told KRDO that the therapist admitted he tied the child up to “learn his lesson” after the child had tried to tie a scarf around his own neck. The daycare said neither that therapist nor any other therapist with Grace Way Collective Behavioral Therapy will be allowed at its facilities going forward, per the same report.
Charges and Child's Account
According to the arrest affidavit cited by KRDO, Kosse was charged with second-degree assault and child abuse, with the child abuse count described as a class one misdemeanor. The affidavit also states that the child told police Kosse tied a scarf around his neck, the station reported.
The Colorado Springs Gazette also reported that police confirmed the arrest of one person in the alleged child abuse case following the department's investigation. The case remains under review as it moves through the local court system.
