Sheriff's detectives and child welfare authorities have arrested a day care employee at a Manatee County day care center after an 18-month-old boy was repeatedly bitten by another toddler.

Manatee Sheriff's spokesman Dave Bristow said Wednesday that an employee at J's Bright Learners day care center in Bradenton is facing charges of child neglect.

The mother of the child, Amanda Beebe, said she was told her little boy had been bitten once before on August 26th by another child. She figured it must have been a common occurrence. Then, three days later, they called her saying had been bitten again, many times, and that "it was bad."

Beebe said she became hysterical when she saw her boy. He's now recovering.

At the time of the incident, the children were supposed to be under the supervision of 23-year-old Caci R. Burke. Burke had been responsible for approximately five to six children between the ages of 1-2years old while working at J's Bright Learners.

According to a release from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, Burke went about her daily responsibilities the morning of August 29, placing the children to sleep at around 11:30 a.m. After all the children were put to sleep, Burke left the room unattended to check on other rooms that were already staffed by day care workers.

Staff members confirmed that Burke's niece had been in one of the other rooms and that she had spent an unknown amount of time in her niece's room, never checking on the children she was responsible for.

Burke claims to have "peeked" in the room to check on the children during her lunch break, though she admits it was for no longer than a second. After confirming the children were still sleeping, Burke brought her lunch back into her niece's room where she remained for an uncertain amount of time.

Burke sporadically checked on the children throughout the day to ensure they were still sleeping. At one point, Burke heard a child in her room crying. Burke tended to the children then returned to her niece's room.

Later, Burke heard a child crying again. This time, Burke chose not to respond to the child.

Janette, the director of the facility, responded to the crying child around 2:30 p.m. instead where she observed a child with several bite marks on his face. Janette also claimed that all the children in the room appeared to have been awake for "some time" when she responded to the crying child.

Surveillance video was turned over to authorities. However, it did not capture the incident on tape.

The child was reported to have bite marks on his cheeks, forehead, arms, and back that were received from another child in the room.

The investigation is still ongoing. Updates will be provided as they become available.