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DCF: Day Care Noticed, Didn't Report Signs Of Toddler's Abuse

News Channel 8 photo by ANTHONY ALLRED

Zachary Johnson died March 13 at Tampa General Hospital. He was 17 months old.

By BAIRD HELGESON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 24, 2009

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Matthew Robert Wyrosdick

TAMPA - Zachary Johnson's day care documented nine instances when the 17-month-old might have shown signs of abuse or neglect while in the care of his aunt and uncle.

Staff at the Educare Early Learning Center in Lakeland took 17 pictures to document their concerns.

But day care workers never reported the problems to the Florida Department of Children & Families, which was overseeing the child while he was in the care of his uncle, who is accused of shaking the boy to death.

In a review of 500 pages of documents, released Tuesday, regarding Zachary's care, agency officials found no evidence case workers had missed signs of abuse.

"They were responsive and did what was expected of them," said Carrie Hoeppner, an agency spokeswoman. "Sometimes bad things still happen to children."

Agency officials will review the day care records to see why staff never reported the injuries, Hoeppner said.

Zachary died March 13 at Tampa General Hospital. His uncle, Matthew Wyrosdick, who is accused of violently shaking and dropping the boy several times, told police he was angry the boy wouldn't sit. The 32-year-old Lakeland man is in the Polk County Jail, and prosecutors say they will seek first-degree murder charges.

A case worker contacted the day care about a week before the boy died, but the child care provider never mentioned any concerns about abuse, according to the DCF report.

Educare Early Learning Center's manager could not be reached for comment.

The DCF report faulted agency caseworkers for not doing more to reach out to the day care and people who have regular contact with the family.

The agency placed Zachary and his older brother, Austin, with Wyrosdick and his wife, Mysti, while their parents were behind bars. The parents, Earl and Clarissa Johnson, spent two months in the Hillsborough County Jail for grand theft auto, fraud and petty theft.

The Johnsons were released Sept. 12 and were about to regain custody of their children. Austin, 2, is with them now.

DCF workers initially recommended against allowing the Wyrosdicks to care for the children in August. Staff members were concerned that the couple made only $1,000 a month and that Matthew had been arrested six years before for trying to hire a prostitute.

A judge placed the children with the Wyrosdicks after their maternal grandparents offered to support the couple. A representative from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, which does child-protection investigations, thought the Wyrosdicks would be suitable caretakers. The prostitution arrest didn't disqualify the couple because it didn't hint at a potential for abuse or crimes against children, according to the report.

After Zachary's death, his parents told an investigator they had informed a caseworker that Wyrosdick had abused the boys and that he and his wife were using drugs.

No such documentation existed in the case file, the report states.

Reporter Baird Helgeson can be reached at (813) 259-7668.

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