Concerned with sexual behavoir of 4 year old girl

I work at a day care center where for pre kindergarten age children. I have become recently more and more concerned with the behavior of a child who under my care from time to time. I am a part time worker during the evenings, so I do not have daily contact with this child, and it can be rather sporadic depending on when the child is dropped off for care. This child is normally in another room than I am, but the children who stay later in the evening often group together, and I am the care giver for these children. This is why I am hesitant , as I do not have as much contact with this child as other teachers. I have heard the concerns of this child's normal class room teachers.
They regularly have problems with this girl during nap times. She often masturbates before going to sleep, and it has become obvious enough to draw the attention of other children. Sometimes she will use toys in order to stimulate herself, (blocks, etc..) Usually she will do it under her blanket, but on occasions where the blanket was forgotten, the child is not shy about continuing her sexual play.

A few days ago, this child was found in the bathroom with another little girl. The other girl was probably 1 -2 years younger. The 4  year old girl had found a bead on the floor and proceeded to stick in in the younger girl's rectum and vagina.

I do not have a lot of knowledge about the signs of sexual abuse. I have read that excessive masturbation can be a sign that the child has been abused as well as unusual sexual behavior. This event seems rather unusual to me, and is very worrying. Should I be concerned about this situation?

[AnnieBrooke]

Masturbating is not so unusual, but it does seem unusual that she would be putting a bead into the vagina and rectum of another child.  Your employer should be talking to her parents and the other little girl's parents should have been notified about what happened.

[treazzure007]

she sounds like an abuse victim.  id first notify the principal/supervisor of the daycare/school and if they didn't address this situation thoroughly i'd notify child welfare in as anonymous way as possible stating who the child was, parents were, and behavior noted.  it sends off red flags to me immediately b/c i worked in childcare for years and never saw any such behavior.  somethings not right whether it's b/c she's been exposed to sexual images too early or is being abused herself

[daycareworker345]

Thank you both for your comments. That was immediately my first thought as well. I know that the teacher has already spoken with both parents, and that the parent of the 4 year old exhibiting this behavior said they have had similar issues with their older daughter.(what sort of similar issues I don't know, this was repeated back to me)  From what another teacher tells me , the parent of the child that had the older girl do this to her did not seem to troubled (what??? how??) I am going to try and find out more from the other teachers on Monday, and then speak with the director of the daycare center. I wanted to get outside opinions on this situation before I went further with it.
I also thought this was an immediate red flag but the other teacher I spoke with did not seem to think it was an abuse issue. While she also thought this behavior was disturbing and  cause for concern, she only thought their was something wrong with the child doing the behavior , rather than that she should be concerned for said child. But as you both said, she obviously learned this behavior somewhere!!!

[margypops]

on your profile it says you are male ?...definatly this behavior is not normal this should be brought to the attention of the principal and parent  

[daycareworker345]

No I'm not. I just made the profile today and didn't bother changing profile information. Would it matter though?

[margypops]

no it doesnt matter I was just wondering about it when answering your question, my answer is the same I think you should mention the behavior to the principle and maybe she will ask the parents ,or you speak to the parents .,the part of all this is the things she is doing to the other children that I feel warrants some looking into Good Luck

[willtolive]

I have had experience with this, as I was a foster-care parent of two & three year old girls.
I'm afraid that this little girl has been a victim of molestation by someone. Her behaviors are very normal for sexual molestation. Please contact your local child protection agency as a daycare worker aren't you required by law to report? Perhaps she is a foster child now, and she was molested in the past by a sibling or parent. Whatever the case this child needs therapy to get help for any emotional damage she has sustained as a result of this. I'm very surprised the owner of the daycare hasn't already done this as she is required by law to report too. Good Luck-and continue to protect our childern! willtolive(aheart)

[daycareworker345]

I don't know that it hasn't been already. This happened later in the day on Friday and we are not open on the weekend. I only heard this story recounted by an assistant teacher. I know both sets of parents were talked to, but I don't know what other steps were taken. I am going to speak with the director of our daycare on Monday and express my concern. If the girl has not already been reported then I will. I don't want to go above my supervisor if something has already been done, however, if they are choosing not to report it, I do definitely feel it is necessary.