Day care worker filmed molesting young children 134 times: Sheriff

Inset: Catherine Guziejka (Smith County Sheriff’s Office). Context: Day care where she allegedly abused multiple infants (KLTV).

44-year-old day care employee in Texas was arrested after she was allegedly physically caught on camera bullying several two-year-old children more than 100 times in a few months.

Catherine Guziejka was arrested last month and charged with six counts of injury with intent to cause bodily harm.

Affidavit of Probable Cause obtained by Tyler, Texas-based ABC affiliate KSLA says multiple assaults occurred between July and October 2024 at Punkin’ Doodles Daycare in Lindale, Texas, about 200 miles north of Houston.

The investigation began late last month when a daycare employee reviewed footage from the facility’s security cameras. During the inspection, the employee allegedly saw Guziejka kicking a 2-year-old boy in the small of the back while the child was lying on the floor.

The employee notified the victim’s father of the incident on October 23, and the father immediately contacted the Smith County Sheriff’s Office and filed a report.

Investigators then reviewed videos from the daycare and said they discovered evidence that Guziejka physically assaulted six different two-year-olds 134 times.

Many of the attacks on young children involved a similar situation where the victim was watching something on TV and Guziejka came up behind them and kicked them in the lower back with his right foot, Nacogdoches, Texas CBS and CW affiliate KYTX reported.

Other examples of aggressive behavior that investigators saw repeatedly on the video included standing on young children’s hands, moving them aggressively while they slept, and grabbing a sleeping child by the arm and dragging him to changing tables.

While changing the babies’ diapers, Guziejka regularly forced them to look at the wall instead of the television on the opposite side of the room by aggressively holding the victims’ heads down.

Melanie Dawn Law, former owner of Punkin’ Doodles Daycare, reportedly reviewed surveillance footage before speaking to police. During questioning, Law allegedly confirmed that Guziejka had been committing violence against children since July and that at least 100 different incidents of violence had been detected. She said Guziejka – initially hired in September 2023 – was fired immediately after the alleged harassment came to light, and all footage of her alleged harassment was subsequently turned over to investigators.

Law spoke to KSLA and said that since the abuse reports came to light, she sold the day care facility to a new owner, which will reopen in December under a new name.

Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith talked to KLTV about the circumstances of Guziejko’s arrest and possible further proceedings. Smith said fortunately none of the children had suffered any serious injuries from Guziejka, saying they had so far been limited to “minor to moderate bruising.”

“We have six charges that we believe can be proven in court,” Smith told the station. “Now as we move forward, detectives are reviewing hours of video footage to see if there are other unreported forms of harassment.”

Guziejka is currently in the Smith County Jail on $450,000 bail, according to the sheriff’s office.