Illinois preschoolers allegedly punished by standing naked in closet in classroom run by SIU Edwardsville

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. -- Two teachers in Illinois are on paid leave as authorities investigate allegations that one forced preschool children to stand naked in a closet with the door open as punishment for misbehaving.

The teachers are with a Head Start program operated by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in East St. Louis. The federally-funded program is for children age 5 and under from low-income families.

KMOV-TV reports that police allege one teacher inappropriately disciplined the students, while the other teacher witnessed the incidents but didn't report them. KTVI reports the former is 26 years old and the latter is 41 years old.

University Police Chief Kevin Schmoll told the Belleville News-Democrat that a supervisor alerted police on March 14.

KTVI said this was after one of the preschoolers told his mother, who came forward. Schmoll said it must have been difficult for the boy to report what happened.

"Very hard, especially if it's your teacher. You have a lot of probably trust for her and everything. To especially go up against your teacher and say something about what was going on," Schmoll said. "But it was the right thing for that little boy to do. He was very brave by coming forward, telling his mother what happened."

The police chief said at least four students were allegedly subjected to such treatment, for up to ten minutes at a time. He also said police believed none of the children were sexually or physically abused.

Schmoll said the children will be interviewed early next month before a charging decision is made.

The Head Start program sent a letter to parents saying it was cooperating with investigators and doesn't condone inappropriate behavior.

CNN contributed to this report.