Raleigh daycare teacher allegedly broke toddler’s bone. It’s not her first charge
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Ashley Taris was arrested Wednesday on a felony child abuse charge.
- Taris was a daycare teacher at KinderCare in Raleigh at the time of the incident.
- She’s accused of breaking a toddler’s leg while placing them in a seated position.
A Wake County former daycare teacher faces multiple charges of child abuse after at least two incidents at a Raleigh-area facility.
Ashley Nicole Taris, 24, of Raleigh was arrested Wednesday on a charge of negligent child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury, Wake County jail records show.
Taris is accused of breaking a child’s lower leg while placing him in a “criss-cross applesauce position” at a KinderCare day care center Aug. 22, according to an arrest warrant.
Taris also has a pending charge of misdemeanor child abuse in a Nov. 5 incident, court records show. The citation in that case is largely blank, with no details about the alleged abuse, but was filed Nov. 24 by the Wake County Sheriff’s Office. Her employer is listed as KinderCare on the citation.
Taris’ Facebook page states she’s worked for KinderCare since May 2021. A KinderCare spokesperson told The News & Observer on Wednesday she no longer works for the company.
“She has not worked in our center since October of 2025,” the spokesperson wrote. “When this incident occurred last summer we followed our safety protocols and immediately notified both the child’s family and the appropriate agencies.”
After “guidance from state officials,” Taris was allowed to continue teaching under a safety plan, but state officials contacted the company in October to ask them to remove her from the classroom, according to the company’s statement. She was placed on administrative leave and has not returned to the center since.
The national chain has more than a dozen locations in Wake County, and court documents don’t specify which location Taris worked at. However, state records show the Mitchell Mill Road location in Raleigh was cited Aug. 28, 2025, after a staffer “pulled a four-year-old child aggressively by the child’s lower leg/ankle, resulting in a fracture to the child’s lower shinbone/ankle” six days prior.
Taris sued the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Child Development and Early Education in January after her child-care license was revoked, court records show. The division had made the decision Nov. 20 after learning of the pending misdemeanor child abuse charge, according to court filings.
That proceeding has been temporarily stayed because of Taris’pending criminal charge.
Taris remained in the Wake County jail without bail Wednesday afternoon.
This story was originally published April 8, 2026 at 3:29 PM.
