The parents of a 5-year-old girl who was allegedly abused at Travis Air Force Base is speaking out on Wednesday.

In a Facebook video, Tanisha Porter says she posted the video because she was frustrated by the lack of response by officials at the Travis Youth Center on the Travis Air Force Base. That is where she alleges her daughter was molested in two separate incidents by two different children.

“We are not going to be quiet about this, and all the other parents that have experienced the same thing,” Porter said. “We went through to come on and come forward because the military shouldn’t be allowed to keep things like this in the dark.”

“I was a military child myself,” father Marcus Robinson added. “I felt this was the safest place for her to be.”

Robinson says both incidents occurred in the Travis Youth Center’s restroom.

He says the civilian couple learned that after taking their complaint up the chain of command.

“They are fully aware that the bathrooms have been an issue for a long time,” Robinson said. “I asked for a hall monitor to be put in place. I asked for my 5-year-old daughter to be separated, to not be around these children. I asked for them to watch her. And for the second incident to come forward, let me further know they were not adequately paying attention to my daughter.”

On Wednesday, a federal child neglect claim was filed on behalf of the family by Civil Rights Attorney John Burris.

“They did not have the proper supervision, guidelines, did not have a protocol in place in order to ensure that children are safe,” Burris said.

In response to the allegation, Travis Air Force base released a statement which reads in part:

“Our leaders closely followed the serious allegation concerning two 5-year-old children at the Travis Youth Center. Upon notification, immediate action was taken to inform affected families and engage appropriate agencies on and off base to both thoroughly investigate the incident and review procedures.” 

“I just want the base to take responsibility for what happened to my daughter,” Porter added. “I want this to not happen to any other child on this base or any other base.”

Here is the statement from Travis Air Force Base:

Our leaders closely followed the serious allegation concerning two five-year-old children at the Travis Youth Center. Upon notification, immediate action was taken to inform affected families and engage appropriate agencies on and off base to both thoroughly investigate the incident and review procedures. This includes notifying Family Advocacy, who then works with Child Protective Services in
the local community. The proper notifications were completed as soon as possible.

Within 48 hours of the alleged incident, the Youth Center implemented plans to provide additional oversight improving our existing high levels of care. This includes assigning dedicated hall monitors to carefully monitor/watch over children who are using the restroom and transitioning between classrooms. These additional precautions were immediately put in place last Monday.

Providing our families a safe environment to live and work is paramount. We take every child safety and welfare concern seriously and will continue to cooperate and communicate with our families and relevant agencies to ensure we focus on safe, healthy, and professional child care. Our service professionals are always open to feedback and promote the use of the multiple support agencies available, to include both Family Advocacy and off-base specialists. It is our
responsibility to both support our customer and refer them appropriately to external agencies. Our goal  is our families’ goal: to provide the best care possible for the men, women, and children of Travis Air Force Base.

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