Sanchez Jenkins Allen wants to clear her name.
Her business, Full of Love Christian Learning Center in St. Rose, has been the target of false allegations after a California woman posted a video to TikTok about a daycare with a similar name.
Allen said her business has received threatening phone calls and one-star reviews on her business’ Google page after social media users mistook her daycare for the California daycare.
In the TikTok video, a woman accuses the son of a California daycare owner of sexually assaulting her four-year old child. In the comment section under the video, the woman names the daycare: FulliLove daycare in Lancaster, California.
When viewers of the TikTok video searched for the daycare online to leave a bad review, or let others know about the allegation, they found only the Google page for Allen’s daycare: Full of Love Christian Learning Center. FulliLove daycare does not have a Google page.
Even though the two daycares have no connection, have different names, and are in different states, at least seven people still left negative comments for Allen’s daycare. The reviews were incredibly damaging. One accused the daycare of allowing the abuse of children. Another accused the daycare owner’s son of sexual assault. Others warned parents to “do their research” before sending their children to the daycare.
One person from Florida even called Allen’s business and claimed that children had been abused there. When Allen explained to the caller that he had the wrong daycare – and, in fact, the daycare in the video was in California – the man, at first, refused to apologize. He seemed to think his efforts to stop a predator justified his actions.
Allen, who has operated her daycare for over 20 years, said she is not diminishing the allegations.
“I am in no way, shape or form saying that we should not speak out if a child was affected at the hand of a predator,” she said. “But we’re living in a world where people are not fact checking. They are just jumping on the bandwagon of anything. We’re living in a culture of ignorance. We’re living in a time when people are not looking for proof.”
Allen said these reviews and phone calls have come at a tremendous cost. Not only did her business’ rating on Google drop from a 5-star to a 3.2-star in a matter of seconds, but she spent days agonizing over the impact of these false allegations on her family.
Her and her husband, a pastor in Kenner, are foster parents. Allen has two sons who are currently pursuing higher education. One is in graduate school, and one is starting college in Oklahoma on scholarship. Could these false allegations impact the family’s foster status or their sons’ college careers?
“I was in tears,” Allen said of the ordeal. “It felt like I was having a heart attack. Yeah, literally a heart attack. I was shaking. These are serious allegations. This could affect everything that I have.”
Allen and her family were proactive. When she received the first alert from Google and read the first negative review, she contacted her niece and her daughter. They helped her trace the review back to the original TikTok video. They asked the woman in the video to make a statement clarifying that Allen’s business had no connection to the daycare in California. Allen herself made statements on her business’ Facebook page. She sent letters to parents at her daycare explaining the situation and setting the record straight.
Allen also contacted Google. Google has removed about five reviews, but as of Monday, June 2, there was still at least one negative review related to the TikTok video on the business’ page. Allen said Google needs to move faster to combat false allegations.
She also said the people who left negative reviews or called the school with false allegations failed to do basic fact checking.
“I want them to know the damage they’ve done – not only to me, my family, my name, my business, my church family, but also, how many businesses had to close down because they experienced what I experienced?” Allen said. “I think about how horrible this could have been if we did not go back and start screenshotting, you know, and getting the young lady [in the video] to make a statement.”
Her advice to other business owners is to be proactive with any false allegation. Gather facts, gather screenshots – anything that can vindicate the business.
She also wants residents of St. Charles Parish to know that she is a teacher at heart. She opened her first daycare in the fellowship hall of Glory of God Community Church in Kenner, where her husband pastors. In 2020, she opened Full of Love Christian Learning Center in St. Rose.
“I have had excellent reviews,” she said. “I have had families that have been with me for years. The name is Full of Love, because that’s who I am. I just want my name cleared.”
