The employees received a statement of guilt in July and were dismissed the following month for just cause, prompting them to appeal the decision to the Ponta Delgada Judicial Court, the Açoriano Oriental daily reported.
On May 30, the newspaper had disclosed that Casa do Povo de Rabo de Peixe, in the municipality of Ribeira Grande, on the island of São Miguel, filed a criminal complaint against four employees for alleged mistreatment of children aged between 1 and 3 years.
On July 12, the Azores’ Social Security stated it would send the inspection report on the Rabo de Peixe nursery to the Public Prosecutor’s Office the following week, where the four staff members were being investigated for alleged child mistreatment, according to Eduardo Nicolau, president of the Azores Social Security Institute (ISSA), speaking to Lusa news agency.
Parents and the Rabo de Peixe community subsequently launched a petition in July, collecting 2,661 signatures, addressed to the president of the Regional Government, the management of Casa do Povo de Rabo de Peixe, and the Rabo de Peixe Parish Council, requesting the “immediate suspension of the four employees involved in the criminal complaint” while the “process and investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office” were ongoing.
The petition described it as “unacceptable that, in light of such a serious accusation—presented by the employer itself—the employee(s) remain in their roles or in contact with minors.”
“This situation violates the principle of precaution and disrespects the fundamental rights of the children and their respective families,” according to the petition text.
