Daycare Worker Says He Accidentally Raped 5-Year-Old Girl During 'Tickle Fight'

It was the end of the day on June 5 when a father stopped by a Normandy Park, Wash., daycare center to pick up his 5-year-old. When he walked in, according to Fox Q13, he couldn’t spot his daughter right away. She didn’t come running to greet him, she wasn’t seated at the table, and he didn’t see her playing outside.

As he scoured the area, the unidentified dad randomly peered behind a bookshelf, where he saw his daughter “crouched” with her 31-year-old male teacher. That teacher, identified as Ian Moore, reportedly told the father they were having a harmless “tickle fight,” but the little girl shared a very different story.

When they got outside, the child allegedly told her dad that Moore had been touching her inappropriately, Fox Q13 reports. Child Protective Services was called immediately, and the child told authorities she was raped.

When Moore was questioned, he reportedly told authorities that he did touch the child beneath her underwear, but he claims it was accidental. According to court documents released this week, Moore said that “when he slipped on a toy as he was tickling … [the fall] caused his hand to slide into her panties and penetrate.”

Though the incident happened last Friday, other parents and grandparents apparently weren’t notified of the incident until Monday. Katie Burns, a grandmother of another child from the daycare, said, “I am going to grab all of her stuff and I’m pretty sure we are not coming back. You want to … do everything to protect [your kids].”

The suspect’s grandmother spoke out to the station as well, saying, “It’s hard to believe it’s true. He was raised in a good environment. We don’t know of any reason [why] this is happening. I am very, very sorry if this is true … Please forgive us. I am crying for everybody, I am crying for the little girl, I am crying for our family.”

Moore is currently facing a first-degree child molestation charge and is in jail held in lieu of a $200,000 bail.

Read more: Fox Q 13