A group of Maryland parents is shocked after learning that a day care worker was arrested after recording herself kicking, yanking and tossing a toddler at a facility their children attend.
Kayla Greenwell of Oxon Hill, 50 miles from Baltimore, was arrested Friday after authorities received a copy of the alarming compilation of videos from FOX 5 DC. A concerned viewer initially sent the footage to the station at noon.
The videos also made rounds on social media Friday afternoon. Police worked quickly to arrest the woman that night.
“I woke up to a lot of messages, sending me videos saying, ‘Isn’t this your son’s school? Isn’t this your son’s school?’ So to see that on my day off, and then the first way I’m hearing about it is through social media versus the school, it’s disgusting,” said Ledarra White, whose 3-year-old son attends the Oxon Hill Center for Early Learning.
The disturbing videos show the 23-year-old walking up to a small girl, kicking her, yanking the child’s left hand and flinging her body onto a mattress on the ground. Greenwell then kicks the mattress dropping the toddler to the ground. The video also shows Greenwell from another frame grabbing the child from outside of the camera’s view and violently slamming her on the mattress.
“It’s just really, really shocking,” parent Tim Coleman told FOX 5 DC.
The Oxon Hill Center for Early Learning has been open since 1997, according to its website. It provides service for children six weeks to 5 years and before and after-care services for school-aged children, it says.
“It should’ve never happened,” added parent Ledarra White, who had just picked up her 3-year-old son Logan. “How did it happen?”
The Prince George’s County Police Department said Greenwell filmed the abusive behavior on her cellphone on Wednesday, April 5. Another version of the videos that were later removed from Twitter by the social media platform showed screenshots of footage on another platform, but it is not clear how the viewer got ahold of the videos before sending them to the TV station.
Greenwell was charged with multiple counts of child abuse and assault and is currently being held by the Department of Corrections, according to authorities. She reportedly started working at the day care in late March.
So far, representatives for the day care have not spoken to the press.
