Rong Liu Bio – Rong Liu Wiki
Rong Liu of central Florida has arrested a 51-year-old daycare owner following an investigation into allegations that she was physically abusing a non-verbal, 3-year-old boy whose care she had been entrusted with.
AGE:
Rong Liu is 51 years old.
DETAIL OF INCIDENCE:
A statement from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office confirms that Rong Liu, the co-owner and director of Children’s Land of Imagination Academy, was charged with one child abuse on August 19.
Liu was arrested after a nearly two-month-long investigation, the statement explains.
The first report of Liu — known as “Ms. Judy” to the children who enrolled at the Odessa-based daycare — being abusive was made to police on June 20.
“Through investigative means, HCSO detectives were able to confirm that the 51-year-old co-owner, in an attempt to put a child down for a nap, forcefully pushed and pulled the head and neck of the victim with her hand,” reads the statement.
According to the statement, Liu “was seen placing both of her legs across the top of the child’s body to try and hold him down.”
At the time of the alleged abuse, “the child victim was crying and flailing their legs.”
The daycare’s website states that the owners and operators “believe that children deserve a safe, caring, challenging, and enriching learning environment where a child can feel valued and enjoy him/herself.”
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister called the allegations “sickening.”
Chronister said that investigators learned that Liu “is known to treat her students harshly and roughly.”
Liu had yet to enter a plea to the charge against her, and efforts to reach her and her attorney were unsuccessful Wednesday.
The victim’s parents, Kelly Autrey and Kenneth Boggs spoke to WFLA and said they first enrolled their son at the daycare in January.
“Whenever he was corrected for anything, I would tell him, ‘No, dude you can’t do that,'” Boggs explained. “He would then smack himself in the face, throw himself on the ground and start crying.”
The parents believe his behavior was learned while the boy was under Liu’s care. They pulled their son from the program in June.
Added Boggs: “The definition of their job is a caretaker for children, and that’s exactly what they’re not, so it’s disturbing.”
Late Tuesday, the sheriff’s office charged Tara Ballou, a 28-year-old teacher who worked with Liu, with a single child abuse count. The specific allegations against Ballou were not available at press time.
Online records show Ballou is being held on a $2,000 bond and has yet to appear in court or enter a plea. Information on her lawyer was unavailable.
WFAL reports that the daycare continues to operate despite the arrests.