Father says daughter was sexually assaulted at Lockhart child care facility, wants changes statewide

LOCKHART, Texas - A father claims his child was sexually assaulted by a teenager at a Lockhart child care facility.

Karston Chatelain is speaking out now after fighting for justice for almost three years and says he now wants to make changes statewide to help keep children safe.

The backstory:

For about two-and-a-half years, Chatelain has been fighting for justice after he received a knock on his door back in 2022.

"The detective showed up and basically informed us that our daughter had been sexually assaulted," Chatelain told FOX 7 Austin's Meredith Aldis.

He says it happened at the Children's Center of Lockhart, known locally as Connie's Kidz.

In September 2022, four people were arrested: a 13-year-old male for aggravated sexual assault of a child, and three adults, Connie Mendoza, Christine Amaya and Rafael Santa Maria.

Caldwell County declined to prosecute Santa Maria and Mendoza received five years' deferred adjudication. Amaya will be sentenced by a judge on March 27.

Documents reveal the Children's Center of Lockhart had a history of reported deficiencies with more than 65 since 2017. The center's license was revoked in January 2023.

What they're saying:

"You assume that your children are going to be safe and to find out something like this happened, you know, and it's a horrible feeling. It's very, very overwhelming. Life changing," Chatelain said about finding out about the assault.

"Caldwell County District Attorney assured us, you know, that we didn't need to contact the news. We didn't need to speak to the news that it would compromise the case and that they were going to prosecute to the full extent of the law," said Chatelain. "That does not seem like that's what's happening in this."

He disagreed with Mendoza's sentence, saying "Deferred adjudication against crimes against children? I don't I don't think that would sit well with me or every parent in the state of Texas."

What's next:

Chatelain is now on a mission to make it mandatory in all child care facilities in Texas to have a video monitoring system for parents.

This isn't currently required by Texas Health and Human Services.

"If there's a daycare out there that doesn't have cameras for you to be able to log in and see what's going on with your child, you need to ask yourself why? Why don't they have cameras and do your research?" Chatelain said. "I don't want anybody to go through this."