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'Disgusting and horrifying,' Two kids arrested after Barrie child care centre vandalized

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Business owners in a southwest Barrie neighbourhood are upset after two kids were arrested for mischief at a child care centre.

"It was absolutely disgusting and horrifying."

A staff member at the Growing Minds Childcare centre in Barrie, who wishes to remain anonymous, said they arrived at the Mapleview Drive West facility Friday morning last week to find the outdoor play area "torn up."

"They threw equipment all over the place, so there was lots of stuff broken. They also defecated on play equipment and wiped it everywhere – inside the toy playhouses and then used their hands to wipe it all over the equipment and then used a hose to spread it around," one Growing Minds staffer said.

"We had to get professional cleaners to come out, like hazard cleaners," she added.

And the entire incident was caught on surveillance video.

"All of it was on camera, so we were able to go back and put together who it was because they have been around the neighbourhood a lot lately, apparently," she said.

"It's very disturbing," said Barrie Police Services communications coordinator Peter Leon.

Police charged two kids, aged 12 and 13, both from Barrie, with mischief under $5,000.

"These are criminal charges," Leon said.

The children attending the centre could not use the outdoor area on Friday because of the mess.

"We had to send a message out to all our families that our yard was not usable for that day, and then we had to get special cleaners to come out over the weekend, and they were able to get it done for Monday, but it was quite a cost," the centre's staff member said.

The two accused have a court date scheduled for September to answer to the charges.

Due to their ages, their identities are protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Meanwhile, the child care centre is holding a fundraiser with 50/50 raffle tickets to help pay for the damage to the yard. Information on the fundraiser is available on the Growing Minds Learning Centre Facebook page.

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