ABC4 Utah

Daycare employee arrested after allegedly picking up toddler by arm, causing fracture

LOGAN, Utah (ABC4) — A daycare employee was arrested after a 20-month-old toddler reportedly broke an arm at a home daycare business in Logan.

Kyah Duncombe, 22, was arrested on May 24 and faces one count of reckless aggravated child abuse, a third-degree felony, after she allegedly lifted a child up by their arm while frustrated, causing a fracture in the left arm at the elbow, according to the affidavit. Duncombe reportedly told police the outcome of the incident may have been related to her mental health condition.

The toddler’s mother said the toddler had no injuries prior to being dropped off at the daycare on April 24 and provided video evidence to police. Authorities began investigating the incident and spoke with witnesses.

One witness allegedly told police they saw the suspect “pick up the victim by his arm” while acting frustrated “and jerked the arm of the victim, lifting him off the ground and moving” the toddler to a different part of the room, according to the affidavit.

The daycare owner spoke with Duncombe who allegedly admitted to lifting and moving the toddler before he started crying. When police located Duncombe working at a different daycare, she reportedly said she had moved the toddler by picking him up around his ribcage but that she struggles from anxiety “and may not remember picking the victim up by the arm.”

She allegedly confirmed the toddler began crying about 30 seconds after she set him down. Duncombe said she has a mental health condition “that may have contributed to the outcome that day.”

Duncombe was booked in the Cache County Jail on May 24. It is unknown at this time if she was working at a different daycare because of the incident or if her employment there was unrelated.