SANTA ANA : Parents Whose Child Strayed File Claim

The parents of Katie Dunn, the 2 1/2-year-old who wandered away unnoticed from the Cypress College Children’s Center and then spent the night at Orangewood Children’s Home over the protests of her parents, have filed a $1-million claim for “emotional suffering and trauma.”

The claim was mailed Friday to the North Orange County Community College District, the children’s center, the County of Orange and the Orangewood Children’s Home. A claim is preparatory toward filing a lawsuit.

In the claim, Katie’s parents, William and Deborah Dunn, allege that day-care center workers breached their legal duty by not noticing that Katie had wandered away from the center March 12 after her mother had signed her in.

Although a passer-by who found Katie turned her over to local fire officials, the problem was compounded by day-care workers who did not realize that she was missing when the officials inquired about her, the claim contends. As a result, Katie was taken to Orangewood Children’s Home.

The parents also called Orangewood “unreasonable” for not returning Katie to them when they eventually discovered her whereabouts.

“Orangewood accepts children 24 hours a day; if there is sufficient personnel to accept the children, then certainly it is reasonable to provide adequate personnel to disburse the children 24 hours a day,” they assert in the claim.

Spokespersons for Orangewood and the Community College District declined to comment on the claim Monday.