A daycare worker was arrested Thursday after being accused of physically abusing multiple children at the Montgomery County facility where he worked, according to officials.
Daniel Patrick Riley, 47, also known as “Mr. Pat,” was arrested early Thursday after police said he allegedly punished and kicked several children at the Little Lambs Day Care, Inc. in Lansdale in March 2026. The facility has since been shut down by the state.
Parents who reported the abuse spoke with NBC10 about the troubling allegations, including one mother who said her daughter came home with bruises and signs of neglect. She also said her daughter told her what Riley had done.
She said she immediately called police.
“I have so many feelings, extremely hurt,” the mother, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
According to Upper Gwynedd Police Detective Dana Hallam, police received multiple reports of physical abuse in March. In one instance, a child suffered a fractured ankle, according to investigators.
“There’s allegations of kicking a child, grabbed a face of a child above what he was to do as a guardian of the children,” she said.
A witness told NBC10 that Riley is the son of the daycare’s owner and operator.
Witnesses also described excessive yelling at children, pulling their arms, forcing children into unreasonable timeouts, poking a child in the forehead and grabbing children’s faces.
According to court documents, the facility had a camera system, and police said Riley was the only person with access to it. Investigators also found that many of the interior classroom surveillance videos had been deleted.
Riley was arrested and charged with aggravated assault – victim less than 6 and defendant 18 or older, endangering the welfare of children, simple assault, tampering with/fabricating physical evidence, harassment and other related offenses.
He is being held on $25,000 cash bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 13, 2026, at 10 a.m.
NBC10 reached out to Riley’s attorney for comment. As of publication, we had not received a response.