ORLANDO, Fla. – Bright Horizons, one of the country's largest childcare providers, has settled negligence lawsuits filed by two families who claim their children were sexually molested by a former daycare employee, court records show.
The terms of the settlements are confidential, court records indicate.
The two families filed the lawsuits in Orange County circuit court in 2017 claiming their children were sexually battered by former employee Jayrico Hamilton while attending the company’s day care in Orlando’s Baldwin Park neighborhood.
Roughly seven months later, prosecutors charged Hamilton with capital sexual battery against one of those children.
Last year, Hamilton was sentenced to probation after he pleaded guilty to lewd and lascivious conduct.
Under the plea agreement, Hamilton avoided prison time but was ordered to register as a sex offender.
At the same time, Bright Horizons was being sued in civil court, the childcare provider had been paying Hamilton’s criminal defense attorneys and legal expenses, a News 6 investigation revealed.
Prosecutors questioned whether that financial arrangement posed a conflict of interest.
Six months after his criminal case was closed, authorities arrested Hamilton for an unrelated child molestation incident that allegedly occurred in Virginia prior to his employment by Bright Horizons.
A Bright Horizons spokesperson and an attorney representing the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to emails from News 6 inquiring about the lawsuit settlement.