Suffolk police investigate abuse claims at Northport daycare center

Suffolk County police are investigating reports of abuse involving a day care employee at The Learning Experience on Fort Salonga Road in Northport, and the case is now raising broader questions about what parents can see before they trust a center with their children.

The Suffolk County Police Department said Special Victims Unit detectives began looking into reports made April 10 involving an employee at the facility, which is located at 1014 Fort Salonga Rd., Northport, NY 11768. The Learning Experience is licensed by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services to care for up to 151 children, including infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school-age children.

The center remained open as the investigation continued. Newsday reported that police said they were investigating allegations that an employee abused a minor.

State licensing records show the daycare was first licensed Dec. 11, 2009, and its current registration period runs through Dec. 10, 2027. The OCFS profile also shows an annual unannounced inspection on Feb. 19, 2026 that found violations, along with earlier 2025 inspections that also noted compliance issues.

According to News 12 Long Island, state records show violations at the facility included corporal punishment, concerns that toilet-training children were disciplined in ways that may have frightened or humiliated them, failures to report suspected abuse and employees who did not meet required qualifications. Those records matter because they show whether a center corrected problems before families were left to learn about them in a crisis.

Federal guidance requires states to post child care monitoring and inspection results online, including violations, corrective actions and substantiated complaints. For parents, that means the first safeguard is not a promise from a provider but a paper trail: check the licensing profile, look for repeated violations, and ask whether corrective actions were completed.

At the center of this case is whether warning signs were missed and whether anyone raised concerns soon enough. A parent quoted by News 12 said her 3-year-old son was abused at the daycare and that earlier concerns were ignored, underscoring why child-care oversight is not a formality but a daily safety issue for Suffolk families who depend on licensed care across Long Island.