Man accused of abuse at Southlake preschool committed same crime at other day care: lawsuit
A Roanoke family filed a lawsuit Monday against a Southlake day care, accusing the preschool of allowing a suspected child molester to be hired after he was fired from a Euless day care for the same reason.
The parents and their two young sons filed the lawsuit against Carpe Diem in Southlake where 33-year-old Thaddeaus Davidson of Grapevine had worked and was accused of having sexual contact with a child.
The lawsuit was filed in Fort Worth.
Southlake police alleged that Davidson committed indecency with a child at least on two occasions while working at Carpe Diem on Randol Mill Avenue. in Southlake. Davidson was arrested in early October, and faces two charges in the case.
Davidson is one of the defendants in the lawsuit. Other defendants are Endeavor Allen Opco of Houston, which owns Carpe Diem; Lionheart Children’s Academy in Euless; Marie Fetterman, an official at Carpe Diem; and Sarah E. Castaneda, who had worked at Lionheart Children’s Academy.
“We believe that Carpe Diem lured parents to entrust their most valuable possessions — their children into the school with promises of a ‘safe,’ ‘secure’ ‘environment,’” said Dallas attorney Quentin Brogdon in a Wednesday email to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He represents the Roanoke family. “Unfortunately, the environment of Carpe Diem was neither safe nor secure. Given the choice and the information, no family would willingly entrust their helpless children into the care of a known predator.”
Officials at Lionheart declined to comment on Wednesday.
“We have not been served with the complaint,” said Megan Yocum, a spokeswoman for Carpe Diem in Southlake, in a Wednesday email. “While litigation is pending or active, we are unable to share any additional details.”
The lawsuit claimed Davidson had worked at Lionheart Children’s Academy at the time Fetterman and Castneda were officials at the school. Fetterman left the school and started at Carpe Diem in Southlake.
At some point, according to the lawsuit, Davidson allegedly abused a child at the Euless school, but it was never reported to authorities. He was fired from Lionheart Children’s Academy after a parent asked about something a child told her about Davidson, according to the lawsuit.
After she hired Davidson, Fetterman touted Davidson as having “10 plus years experience,” being “professionally trained,” having “received numerous awards throughout the years,” the lawsuit stated. She further reassured parents that she had “previously worked with Thaddaeus.”
The Roanoke family says Fetterman failed to alert parents that Davidson had reportedly committed child abuse at another preschool.
The lawsuit noted that Fetterman was fired from Carpe Diem and Castaneda was terminated from Lionheart after Davidson was arrested in early October on two counts of indecency with a child.
The Roanoke family is seeking a judgment within the jurisdictional limits of the court in Fort Worth.
This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 5:34 PM.
