The Winter Haven Police Department obtained arrest warrants for two former childcare workers who were caught on video berating, taunting, and throwing a backpack at an eight-year-old child with autism.
- Police alerted to video on Sept. 1
- Incident occurred at Our Children's Academy
- School immediately fired workers
The department said they were first alerted to the video, posted to social media service Snapchat, on Sept. 1, 2017. The video showed Kaderrica Smith, 26 and Alexis Henderson, 20, taunting, yelling, and tripping the victim, who can be seen crying and hiding under a table.
At one point in the recording, the child comes out from under the table and runs at one of the workers, who then grabs his arms and uses her leg to sweep the boy's feet out from under him, causing him to fall on his back.
The video lasted approximately three minutes, according to officials. During the video, one of the workers can be seen throwing a backpack at the boy, which hits him in the face.
Another portion of the video shows the child throwing something across the room, and one of the women can be heard saying, "Your face gonna be in the toilet."
During an initial interview regarding the incident, both Smith and Henderson said they felt they did nothing wrong, according to Winter Haven Police Chief Charlie Bird.
"We asked, 'What prompted you to respond this way to this child?' And their responses back was that was appropriate. 'That's the way we were taught. That's the way we should do it,'" Bird said.
The facility reportedly fired them immediately, and the Department of Children and Families placed a hold on their certifications so they could not be re-employed by any entity working with children for the duration of the investigation into this incident.
A follow-up interview with a Child Protection Team member on Sept. 15 determined that both Smith and Henderson committed criminal acts in dealing with the child. Since then, multiple efforts to locate the two former childcare workers have failed, resulting in arrest warrants being issued.
Kaderrica Smith is being charged with battery and child abuse. Alexis Henderson is being charged with child neglect.
Police Chief Bird said he has not yet spoken to the parents of the child, but could only imagine how they were feeling.
“When you see your child being treated like that ... that’s pretty traumatizing,” said Bird.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of either Henderson or Smith is asked to call Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-TIPS (8477). Callers can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a CASH reward.