Three former workers at a prominent Alabama church daycare have been indicted on a combined 44 charges of child abuse and failure to disclose child abuse.
Chief Deputy District Attorney C.J. Robinson on Tuesday announced the indictments in what he previously called a “sickening” case.
Robinson, of the 19th Judicial Circuit, said the alleged abuse involved up to 11 children under the age of 2 at Journey Church of the River Region in Prattville.
All of the of the suspects were initially arrested by Prattville police earlier this month on one count each of child abuse and failure of a mandatory report to disclose an act of child abuse.
Susan Baker, age unknown, is charged with 19 counts – 13 counts of child abuse and six counts of failure to mandatory report. According to charging documents in her May 3 arrest, Baker willfully abused a child by jerking the crib in a forceful manner causing the child to hit his head on the crib.
“She strikes him and holds him down,’’ the deposition states. “She returns to the crib and slams him down striking him again. Susan Baker at the time of the offense was a daycare worker and a responsible person taking care of the child at the time of the offense.”
Leah Livingston, 58, is charged with eight counts of child abuse and five counts of failure to mandatory report.
Charging documents in the early-May case state Livingston pushed a child down in the crib causing him to strike his head against the crib and jerking his legs.
Alice Sorrells, 62, is charged with seven counts of child abuse and five counts of failure to mandatory report. The deposition in her earlier charge accuses Sorrells of jerking a child down in the crib, causing him to hit his head against the plexiglass in the crib.
“She then forcefully jerks his leg,’’ the record states. “The child cries out in pain but is not checked to see if any injuries occurred or to console the child after being mistreated.”
All three previously worked at another daycare in the Prattville area that closed in December and moved to Journey Church of the River Region daycare.
The investigation began when a potential employee was shadowing the suspects and saw behavior that she thought was inappropriate, Robinson said. She went to the director with her concerns and the director contacted Prattville police.
“The director pulled the (video) footage for the last 30 days and the video showed multiple incidents of child abuse,’’ Robinson said.
Robinson said the videos showed shoving and striking of the children. The video available to dated back to Feb. 22.
None of the children sustained serious physical injuries.
Child abuse is a Class C felony.
Failure to mandatory report is a misdemeanor. Under Alabama law, daycare workers have a duty to disclose any act of child abuse or neglect.
“In this case, for each instance when one defendant committed an act of child abuse and another defendant witnessed that act, that second defendant still had an affirmative duty under Alabama law to report the abuse they witnessed,’’ Robinson said. “None of these women reported a single act.”
Robinson praised Prattville police for their investigation on the case, saying they “worked tirelessly to uncover the truth.”
“These indictments represent very serious offenses. While we pray incidents like this do not occur, the sad reality is that is not always the case,’’ Robinson said.
He also thanked the trainee who came forward and “brought the abuse to light.”
“When the public trust is betrayed, it is important we act swiftly, but as thoroughly as possible,’’ Robinson said. “Protecting and securing justice for our most vulnerable citizens, our children, has been at the forefront of the investigation.”