Child Care Workers Seen Taunting Autistic Child on Video Arrested and Charged
After a Snapchat video recently surfaced showing two female child care workers, berating, taunting and throwing a backpack at an eight-year-old autistic child, police in Winter Haven, Florida, issued warrants for those two women, Kaderrica Smith, 26, of Haines City and Alexus Henderson, 19, of Dundee. The incident was recorded at Our Children’s Academy in Winter Haven and depicted the two child care workers taunting, aggravating, yelling at and performing a leg sweep on the child, causing him to be thrown to the floor and landing flat on his back, according to a press release from The Winter Haven Police Department.
The child, who was diagnosed with autism, ADHD, ODD and severe outbursts, can be seen on the video crying and hiding underneath a table while Henderson and Smith continued to taunt him. At one point, one of the women is seen throwing shoes and a backpack at the child while he is trying to hide under the table.
On September 15, Winter Haven Police conducted an initial interview with Henderson and Smith who both told detectives that they felt they were acting appropriately and that they did nothing wrong. Our Children’s Academy fired both the childcare workers and DCF placed a hold on their certifications so they could not be re-employed by any entity working with children while the police investigation was being conducted. Following that interview, it was determined that both Henderson and Smith committed criminal acts in dealing with the eight-year-old child. Because police had difficulty locating the two women after their interviews, warrants were issued for their arrests on September 21.
Today, Fox News reported that the two women surrendered themselves to police in Winter Haven this morning and were arraigned immediately afterwards. Smith was charged with battery and child abuse and ordered by the judge not to have any contact with children. Smith, a mother of three, had her bond set at $5,000. Henderson was charged with child neglect and is currently free on bond.
The Winter Haven Police Department quoted Chief Charlie Bird as saying, “These workers were supposed to be trained in how to handle children with behavioral issues. They are trained to deescalate situations, but that obviously did not happen.” Fox News shared a story from a former Our Children’s Academy client, Rae Ryan, who removed her eight-year-old son from the Academy in 2014. “In January, I went into the school and witnessed them dragging a child by their arms and feet down the hallway, and that was the last day my son went there,” Ryan recalled.
Written by: Ace News Today Staff
