Five daycare workers are facing criminal charges after being seen in videos circulating on social media this month frightening children with a scary mask.
It took place at Hamilton’s Lil’ Blessings Learning Center. Video of preschool-aged children screaming terror at a worker in a tuxedo. “Scream”They yelled at each other.
“Are you being bad? Do I need to take you outside?” the worker in the mask said.
The workers involved were fired, and the daycare has since been shut down. Four of them were charged with felony child abuse, while a fifth worker was charged with a misdemeanor of simple assault and failing to report abuse.
Jessie Reeves, a working mom of six children, says her 3-year-old daughter Jaxie is still traumatized and has been drawing pictures of the “monster.”
“And she says, ‘This is a mask, momma. This is a monster,’” Reeves said.
Katelyn Johnson’s 2-year-old son Pierce was chased around the daycare by the masked worker, as another grownup laughed and encouraged her.
“There’s no excuse for it,”Johnson stated.
One of the workers involved wrote a tearful apology to his employer on social media. “If I could take it back, I would,”She said.
Workers could be sentenced to jail if they are convicted.