YMCA of Central Texas faces lawsuit over day care worker who police say injured children

The YMCA of Central Texas faces a lawsuit claiming that one of its day care workers injured a 2-year-old boy.

The day care worker named in the lawsuit, 45-year-old Geraline Browning, was charged this month with four counts of injury to a child and one count of assault in connection to hurting at least three children at a day care in North Austin, according to arrest affidavits.

All of the charges are third-degree felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The day care is operated by the YMCA for full-time staff members of the Pflugerville school district, according to a district website. It said child care is provided for children from age 8 weeks up to 4 years old.

One of the criminal charges against Browning includes the abuse against the 2-year-old in the lawsuit, said Joe Caputo, the lawyer representing the boy's mother. The lawsuit was filed Friday and seeks more than $1 million in damages.

More:Austin woman charged with injury to child after 3-month-old's death

The YMCA does not comment on pending litigation, said Dana Driver, a spokeswoman for the organization.

Browning has been fired, said Laura Arredondo, the chief marketing officer for the YMCA.

“We have terminated an employee after reviewing evidence of physical aggression directed at several of our students," Arredondo said. "We immediately alerted the parents, CPS and the local authorities. The well-being of our students is our utmost priority and fortunately, these children are safe. We follow the state's guidelines on safety and run extensive background checks before hiring employees. The YMCA of Central Texas is committed to ensuring the safest possible environment for our families and will work tirelessly to that end."

More:Texas fined $100k per day for failure to investigate foster care abuse

Caputo said Browning chased the 2-year-old boy around the day care and placed hands around his neck in a "choking fashion." Police began investigating Browning after a Pflugerville school district employee began watching surveillance video of the day care in February because she was looking for a missing pair of shoes, one of the affidavits said.

She saw Browning on a video on Feb. 21 choking a child, the affidavit said. The day care is at Northwest Elementary School, at 14014 Thermal Drive in North Austin, which is in the Pflugerville school district.

The video also showed Browning grabbing a girl by the arm and shaking her, according to the affidavit. Browning later told a Pflugerville police detective she was anxious and "overreacted," the affidavit said.

Other video surveillance from the day care showed Browning grabbing another child from behind by the neck and spinning the child around before forcing the child to the floor on Feb. 12, an affidavit said. Browning also was seen on Feb. 7 in a video grabbing a child around the neck and chest, according to an affidavit.

More videos in February showed Browning grabbing a 2-year-old girl by the neck and the collarbone and putting her on the floor, and also walking into the same girl causing the child to hit her forehead on a cabinet, an affidavit said. Another video from the day care in January showed Browning yanking the same girl off a stool by her arm, according to an affidavit.

Caputo called the facts in the Browning case "troubling."

"Families in this community trust that the YMCA will care for their children," Caputo said. "The YMCA facility betrayed that trust. We intend to get to the bottom of what happened so that this never happens again.”