Maryland authorities have shut down an Oxon Hill daycare center where an employee was arrested on charges of recording herself abusing children.
Child Protective Services suspended the Oxon Hill Center for Early Learning’s license Friday, according to CBS News affiliate WUSA.
Kayla Greenwell, 23, was arrested April 8 after videos surfaced online that appeared to show her kicking and dropping children in her care.
Court records show that Ms. Greenwell is facing two felony counts of child abuse and two misdemeanor assault charges.
“We have someone who was alleged to have abused defenseless children. That really shows a callous disregard for humanity, and so we were very concerned about her engaging with the general public,” Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy told Fox News affiliate WTTG after Ms. Greenwell was ordered held without bond.
The daycare center confirmed in a letter to families Friday that Ms. Greenwell had cleared her background checks when she was hired in late March.
“As many of you know, a disturbing video showing a former employee displaying inappropriate behavior with two children has gone viral on social media,” the letter said, per ABC News affiliate WJLA-TV. “We take seriously the safety of your children; therefore, upon being informed of the video, we immediately took action. The employee was fired. All required hiring requirements were followed which included a criminal background check and a child abuse check. Both checks came back clear.”
In the videos, a female employee can be seen kicking a chair out from under a boy. The employee also is seen kicking a girl, then grabbing the child by the arm and flinging her onto a mat for napping, and then kicking over the mat. Another video shows the employee picking up a girl by her collar and dropping her on the nap mat from a different angle.
The videos of Ms. Greenwell’s alleged abuse took place April 5 and were first sent to Fox affiliate WTTG two days later. The TV station said it contacted authorities, who asked the station to delay airing the videos so they could launch an investigation.
Ms. Greenwell was taken into custody after police obtained a warrant for her arrest.
