The daycare teacher at Young Tracks Preschool and Day Care Center who was arrested for alleged child abuse on Friday is accused of “violently” grabbing children by the arms and legs and scratching them, according to an arrest affidavit.

Parents were asked to pick up their children from the Steamboat Springs daycare facility early on Tuesday after the state’s Department of Early Childhood ordered it closed. Steamboat Springs Police Chief Mark Beckett confirmed the closure ordered by the state agency. Additional details related to the closure order were not immediately available.

Alma Amparan Montes, 26, was arrested Friday after Steamboat Springs police investigated reports of abuse from the Routt County Department of Human Services. She is charged with one count of child abuse, a Class 2 misdemeanor, according to a Steamboat police news release.

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The release states that Montes had been a daycare teacher at Young Tracks Preschool and Day Care Center for about five years and added that police believe the alleged abuse under investigation is “physical and not sexual.” 

According to the affidavit, several witnesses, including two teachers, reported to the Routt County Department of Human Services that Montes “grabs (the children) by their arms and legs, shakes them and lays them down roughly causing them to hit their heads on the wall.”

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One witness reported seeing Montes become “upset” with a child and throw the child “approximately 10 feet,” according to the affidavit. The witness added that the child “hit (their) head so hard that it took several moments to react,” states the affidavit.

Witnesses also reported noticing scratches and bruises on students and they stated that Montes “uses her long fingernails to press on the children’s windpipe,” according to the affidavit.

The affidavit further states that witnesses have seen Montes “lay on the children to make them fall asleep.”

The Routt County Department of Human Services provided to police photos of injuries that showed “fresh” scratches that “broke skin” and bruises that are “dark in color,” states the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, witnesses also reported noticing “bumps” on the backs of students’ heads from “hitting their head on the wall after (Montes) aggressively handled them.”

The affidavit also states that one witness provided to police a video of Montes “hitting a kid and being rude.”

According to the affidavit, Montes did not file an incident report regarding any of the alleged abuse, which is part of her job.

One witness also stated that Montes has “a reason for every incident” when parents ask about the marks and bruises on their children.

When interviewed by police, Montes said that she does not physically harm the children and described her actions as “being mad and not knowing how to control your emotions,” according to the affidavit.

Montes also stated that she would “put her leg on top of the children so they would not move,” but then added, “That wasn’t right, so I stopped that,” according to the affidavit.

The affidavit further states that Montes claimed the scratches are an accident from “holding a child’s hands.”

When confronted about the video sent to police, Montes acknowledged the aggressive behavior but did not know when the incident happened, the affidavit states. She then said that she was “frustrated” with the child, according to the affidavit.

According to the Routt County Combined Court clerk’s office, bond for Montes was set at $1,500 on Tuesday morning. She was released from Routt County Jail later that day.

The next court date for Montes is scheduled for 10 a.m. March 19.