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Toddler found unresponsive in Harlingen remains in the ICU, daycare employee charged

Toddler found unresponsive in Harlingen remains in the ICU, daycare employee charged
2 days 2 hours 33 minutes ago Saturday, June 29 2024 Jun 29, 2024 June 29, 2024 1:35 PM June 29, 2024 in News - Local

A 30-year-old San Benito woman was charged after a 15-month-old was found unresponsive, according to the Harlingen Police Department.

Belinda Perez was identified in a Saturday news release as the employee of a Harlingen daycare who was arrested in connection with the investigation. 

Perez was arraigned on a charge of injury to a child, and her bond was set at $750,000. The Harlingen city jail confirmed to Channel 5 News Perez remains in custody as of Saturday evening.

Perez was arrested after Harlingen police officers responded to a report of an unresponsive female child at a daycare center located at 1502 Dixieland Road on Thursday at around 2:53 p.m.

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The address provided by police is the location for the Little Red School House Child Development Center.

A Harlingen police officer performed CPR on the child until EMS crews took over, a previous news release added.

A Friday news release said the toddler was hospitalized in critical condition. Harlingen police spokesman Sgt. Larry Moore said on Saturday that the baby is still in the ICU, but breathing on its own "and doing better."

A statement released by the daycare center on Instagram said the incident was recorded on video and reviewed by police.

"As a result, the individual involved has been taken into custody, and she will never work for The Little Red Schoolhouse again," the post stated.

Moore said if Perez is released on bond, she would be given an ankle monitor and be prohibited from daycares or being near children. 

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