Claremore Daycare Owner Says She Reported Prior Abuse Of Suspect's Children

A Claremore woman arrested for permitting child abuse had been reported for suspected abuse three times before, News On 6 has found.

Police say Brittney Wallace's 11-week-old and 21-month-old sons had burns, bruises and broken bones.

The owner of the Claremore Children's Center says she contacted DHS twice and police once about concerns of abuse on two of Brittney Wallace's children.

"Sick, just sick to my stomach,” Claremore Children’s Center’s Suzanne Carroll said. “These are innocent children."

That was Suzanne Carroll's reaction when she heard Brittney Wallace's sons had severe injuries.

Carroll says her staff called child welfare a few years ago about bruises on Wallace's oldest boy, who was a toddler.

She says Wallace pulled the boy out and she heard nothing more.

Her staff then called a year ago about Wallace's middle son.

"We noticed a slap mark on his cheek and the teachers called child welfare,” Carroll said.

She says they heard nothing more.

Then, in February, they called police about the same boy.

"We noticed bruising on his arms, on his cheek, like he'd been grabbed, on his back and bottom,” Carroll said.

Police tell us they referred the case to DHS and in April the worker told them they had concerns about abuse but it was unsubstantiated so they closed the case.

Suzanne doesn't blame DHS, but those higher up.

"I know budget cuts with DHS, state funds, it's a problem,” she said. “They don't have enough people about to do the work that needs to be done."

We contacted DHS for information, but they are restricted by law on what they can say about a child history. They're only allowed to give information about a child welfare history if the child is dead or near death.