A former Mississippi daycare worker will spend time behind bars and is barred from ever working in a childcare facility again after she was caught on video hitting a 3-year-old girl in the head.
Kattora Lewis said she was horrified after her toddler, Aubree Oliver, came home from Kids World Center last November with a bruise under her eye. The daycare claimed Aubree fell on the playground, but the mother did not back down and asked to see surveillance footage. Lewis said it showed Ruby Mae Wilkerson striking her child in the head.
“My baby was just laying there, and [the teacher] went over there and hit her three times,” Lewis told WLBT. “When I saw the video, I just wanted to break down and cry.”
The video reportedly shows Aubree covering her head as soon as Wilkerson walked in the room. Lewis said it made her question if the abuse may have been going on for a while. She had seen other marks on Aubree’s skin before but had no reason to believe it wasn’t a playground scuff.
The daycare owns the rights to the video and won’t release it to media, but the Madison County judge who handed down Wilson’s sentence watched the video and said, “This wasn’t just a love tap.”
The judge sentenced Wilson to 10 years in prison on Monday. While eight years are suspended, the former daycare worker must also serve five years of probation once she is released from prison.
Aubree’s father, Desmond Oliver, said Wilson’s sentence was too light.
“I think the outcome is fair. I wish the sentencing had been a little [harsher] on her just because of the situation,” Oliver told 16 WAPT.
The girl’s mother said the toddler is still traumatized by the incident and flinches when someone raises their hand near her.
“I would like to see her have the whole 10 years in jail,” Lewis said. “I just don’t want her to keep another child or any elderly person. She just doesn’t need to be around any child at all.”
