WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT A worker at Destiny Development Center in Inglewood, California, was filmed removing her shoe and throwing it at the child, who cried after being hit
A childcare worker has been caught on camera hurling a shoe at a five year old girl as fellow staff members watched and laughed.
The shocking incident took place at the Destiny Development Centre in Inglewood, California, with the footage, recorded on 16 January. It shows the unnamed employee taking off her shoe and throwing it at the child, who burst into tears after being struck. Two other members of staff witnessed the incident and laughed.
The girl’s mother, Michelae Jones, exposed what happened, telling local station KTLA she was shocked and outraged. “I’ve been with these people for three years. I really thought my baby was safe with them,” Jones said.
Jones revealed her daughter informed her about the incident that same evening. Jones immediately challenged the childcare facility’s director, but claims staff were far too sluggish in their response.
It took a fortnight before Jones was allowed to view the CCTV footage from that day. The child’s aunt, Kira Townsend, raised multiple concerns about the facility’s safety protocols and how it operates reports the Mirror US.
“I want to know how often are they reviewing the footage?” Townsend questioned. “How do you have a business and you don’t review the footage unless a parent says something? Why do we have to wait for my niece to come and tell us, ‘Hey, my teacher hit me in the ear with a shoe?’”
The nursery’s director, Danielle Williams, reportedly told Jones that she was initiating an inquiry. She subsequently explained to Jones that the carer who hurled the shoe was allegedly “throwing shoes into another room that weren’t supposed to be there and [the child] accidentally got hit in the head with the shoe.
“My school, what we stand for, it’s not child abuse,” Williams insisted. “We don’t hire child abusers.” Following her investigation, Williams sacked the shoe-throwing carer, identified only as “Ms. Emily.”
The two other women present during the incident were initially suspended for failing to report it, but after examining the footage, Williams decided to dismiss them too.
Williams emphasised that all her teachers and staff have undergone thorough background checks before joining. “We go through every procedure for people to get employed at this facility – a caregiver background check, FBI index, everything and then the training that goes along with it. I wouldn’t wish this on anybody’s child. We don’t stand for it, we don’t agree with it.”
The child’s mum said a simple apology isn’t enough and fears this may not be a one-off. Jones says she wants the carer arrested for assault and child abuse, with criminal charges brought forward.
“You need to be in jail like any other child abuser. That’s what I want. Justice,” the mother said. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is presently probing the incident.