‘Profound Betrayal’: Toddler Needed Stitches After Daycare Teacher Assaulted Child In Lindenhurst: DA

LINDENHURST, NY — A Massapequa woman who worked as a teacher at a Lindenhurst daycare was indicted on assault and child endangerment charges after prosecutors said she injured one toddler and endangered another during separate naptime incidents.

Megan Marchena, 27, was arraigned on March 6 on an indictment charging her with 2 counts of second-degree assault, 1 count of third-degree assault, and 2 counts of endangering the welfare of a child, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said.

According to prosecutors, Marchena was employed at the Lindenhurst daycare, Tutor Time and was primarily responsible for teaching children younger than 2.

The most serious accusation stems from an incident on Feb. 24, 2025, during naptime, where prosecutors said Marchena tried repeatedly to force a 17-month-old girl to go to sleep by pushing her face-first into her cot.

Prosecutors said Marchena did this several times with increasing force before pushing the child’s face into the hard plastic edge of the cot, causing the toddler’s teeth to cut through the inside of her mouth.

The child was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, where she needed stitches in her mouth, prosecutors said.

The investigation found that the incident was captured on video surveillance, according to the DA’s office.

Marchena was arrested on Feb. 28, 2025.

After her arrest, Suffolk County police received numerous calls from parents, daycare staff, and people connected to Marchena’s former places of employment, accusing her of inappropriate behavior involving other children, prosecutors said.

Detectives then uncovered a second incident from Jan. 10, 2025, also during naptime, according to the DA’s office.

In that case, prosecutors said one of Marchena’s 18-month-old students would not stay in bed, and Marchena picked the boy up by his torso while his head and legs dangled, carried him over to his cot, and dropped him onto it from standing height.

Marchena was arraigned before Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei. Mazzei ordered her held on $5,000 cash, $10,000 bond, or a $50,000 partially secured bond while the case is pending, prosecutors said.

If convicted on the top count, Marchena faces up to 7 years in prison.

She is due back in court on March 31. Marchena is represented by attorney Steve Fondulis, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“This indictment alleges a profound betrayal of trust by someone who was supposed to protect and
nurture these young children,” Tierney said. “Parents have the right to expect that their children will be safe in a classroom, and it is deeply unsettling that children so small and innocent were allegedly harmed by this defendant.”

Anyone who believes their child may have been a victim of Marchena is asked to contact the Suffolk County Police Department’s Special Victims Section at 631-852-6184.