A group of California parents have filed a lawsuit against a daycare center accusing two instructors of pricking thumb tacks into the legs of their young children as a. form a discipline and threatening the toddlers to keep them quiet about the abuse . The civil suit , filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday , says . the teachers involved in the abuse , which occurred between 2013. and 2014 at a Tutor Time franchise , were fired after their . actions came to the attention of management , but that the . daycare center concealed their actions from parents . The suit follows an investigation by state authorities who . cited the center in Agoura Hills , west of Los Angeles , after . finding at least one instructor 'used tactics to intimate and . scare children , ' according to documents from the state . Department of Social Services . Four California mothers have filed a lawsuit against the Tutor Time daycare center in Agoura Hills , accusing instructors there of pricking their children 's legs with pins as a way of discipline . The lawsuit filed on behalf of four parents , identified in court papers as Nicole Z. , Kim M. , Debbie S. and Krista L. , says their 2- and 3-year-old children suffered cruel and unusual abuse in a recurring . practice known at the center as 'pica pica , ' which translated . from Spanish means 'prick prick . ' 'If a boy was deemed inattentive or failed to follow . directions , these teachers would stick a pin into the child 's . legs , ' said the lawsuit , which was filed on behalf of the parents by personal injury attorney Robert Clayton . 'The push pin was pressed deep enough into the legs to . inflict pain and injury on the child , ' the court papers read . The lawsuit accuses the two instructors , named as Rosa Nepomuseno and Jessica Morales , and the operators of . the center of negligence , failure to report abuse , assault and . battery , breach of contract and other wrongdoing and seeks an . unspecified amount in damages . Caseworkers from the state Department of Social Service visited the daycare center last May and uncovered evidence that serious violations had occurred there , reported 7Online . As a result of the investigation , three Tutor Time workers were fired , including one who knew about the abuse but failed to report it . A former worker told the station that the classroom for 2-year-olds was overcrowded , with two instructors having to look after about two dozen toddlers . The lawsuit alleges that the sister of one of the alleged victims was “ made to watch the defendants inflict this brutal punishment on her twin brother , which resulted in severe mental and emotional injuries to her . In a phone interview with Daily Mail Wednesday , attorney Robert Clayton said the first plaintiff in the lawsuit found out about the alleged abuse a year ago from a terminated Tutor Time teacher , who told the woman about the push pins , not knowing that she had a son at the daycare center . The attorney said when he contacted the management at Tutor Time , ‘ they weren ’ t denying it happened , but they didn ’ t think it was a big deal. ’ The boys ’ families , however , were of a different opinion . Clayton said : ‘ They were shocked . They could not fathom this had happened to their children , especially in a place they trusted…They made the parents feel very safe. ’ The lawyer representing the four mothers said whenever parents would notice scrapes and pokes on the toddlers ’ legs and mention it to instructors at Tutor Time , the standard response was , ‘ they ’ re just boys. ’ But according to Clayton , the teachers named as defendants in the lawsuit threatened the children to keep quiet about the pin pricks . Painful punishment : The lawsuit alleges 2- and 3-year-old children suffered cruel and unusual abuse in a recurring practice known at the center as 'pica pica , ' which translated from Spanish means 'prick prick ' Clayton claimed that whenever one of the instructors would see the toddlers approach other staffers at the daycare center , she would tap her pocket containing thumb pins to warn them not to say anything about the ‘ pica pica ’ ritual . The attorney said his clients ’ children have been receiving counselling to help them deal with nightmares and bed-wetting allegedly resulting from the trauma . ‘ They are frightened every time they see anything sharp , ’ the lawyer told Daily Mail . The law partner at the LA-based firm Taylor and Ring further said his clients want to see change . ‘ They want to see that this never happens to another child , ’ said Clayton . Clayton said he has been getting calls from other parents , suggesting that there could be more victims out there . Lydia Cisaruk , a spokeswoman for Tutor Time , told Reuters in an . email that the company acquired the center from its franchise . operator last August but the purchase was unrelated to the . allegations of abuse . 'Before the acquisition , this matter was addressed by the . franchise owner/operator in conjunction with the licensing . authorities , ' she said . 'Staffing changes were made prior to the . school coming under corporate ownership last year . ' Tutor Time as a corporate entity was not served as a. defendant in the lawsuit , Cisaruk said . The suit names as defendants the two instructors and Little . Scholars Inc , which Cisaruk said operated the center as a. franchisee .
Four California mothers are suing Tutor Time daycare center in Agoura Hills for alleged abuse . The women say they were forced to sit on the floor and be touched by a male caregiver while their children played at the center. The disciplinary measure was known at the center as 'pica pica , ' which translated from Spanish means 'prick prick '