A daycare centre is being sued for USD 15 million after its workers were accused of beating two small boys with a “teacher’s stick” and subjecting them to horrific psychological abuse.

The Children’s Center of the Faith United Methodist Church in Methuen, Massachusetts, USA, is facing a civil lawsuit after its employees allegedly abused two boys aged three and four.

Court documents claim that the boys were locked in a nursery cupboard and beaten with the stick.

The workers have been named as Mark Siegal, Jennifer Pacard, William Callahan, Sandra Lumb, Iris Cordero, Leticia Cordero, Unexie Santos and Yarlene Betances, according to local media.

They are accused of assault, battery, false imprisonment, negligence, invasion of privacy and the intentional infliction of emotional distress, according to court documents.

Both children were allegedly denied the school lunches their mothers had prepared for them as a regular form of punishment, according to reports.

The three-year-old boy has been diagnosed with “PTSD and anxiety” as a result of the abuse he endured at the daycare centre, according to the victims’ attorney Matthew J. Fogelman.

The family of the three-year-old boy went on to accuse the daycare centre employees of locking the child in a closet after telling him it was filled with “monsters” and calling him a “baby”.

When the child called for help, staffers reportedly told him to “shut the (expletive) up.”

The mother of the child also stated that her son suffered a facial injury at the daycare centre and that she was refused a meeting with its staff.

The four-year-old child was allegedly restrained, pinched and scratched by the daycare centre employees at one point, according to the lawsuit.

It went on to state: “(This included) grabbing him until his arms and legs could not move.

“(The boy) indicated that he could not breathe when this was being done to him.”

The daycare centre employees would also lock the small child in the bathroom and “shut the lights off”, while daycare centre employees allegedly told both children they were “disgusting” when they needed to use the bathroom, according to the lawsuit.

The children are now suffering from self-esteem issues, anxiety and nightmares, according to reports.

Both the daycare centre and its employees are being sued for USD 15 million (GBP 13.28 million) in damages.

An investigation into the case has been carried out by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF).

Despite this, the findings of the investigation will not be made public due to privacy concerns, according to the DCF.