2 day care workers charged after video shows child thrown

ST. LOUIS – Charges have been filed against two Missouri day care centre workers after surveillance video showing a 3-year-old girl being thrown against a cabinet went viral.

The woman accused of throwing the girl, 27-year-old Wilma Brown, was charged with felony child abuse on Thursday in St. Louis County. Relatives said the girl sustained a head gash that required seven stiches during the incident on Feb. 1 at Brighter Day Care and Preschool.

The girl’s family said they were initially told the girl fell, but five days later watched surveillance video with the centre’s director that showed a worker throwing the child into a cabinet.

A warrant has been issued for Brown’s arrest. Brown doesn’t have a publicly listed telephone number and couldn’t be reached for comment by The Associated Press.

Prosecutors also charged 22-year-old Ariana Silver for a separate incident on Feb. 27 that was also allegedly captured by surveillance video. Charging documents allege Silver squeezed a 4-year-old girl’s arm and punctured her skin, and then carried the girl by her foot.

Silver is jailed on $50,000 bond. Jail records don’t show whether she has an attorney, and she doesn’t have a publicly listed home phone number.

Both women have been fired, according to Timothy Smith, an attorney for the day care centre.

Smith said the centre is co-operating with investigators and “has provided exemplary, high quality educational and child care services to thousands of children and their families for more than a decade.” The attorney said teachers and staff are properly trained, and the centre works to provide a safe environment.