Some South Carolina daycare center employees were arrested after allegedly running a child fight ring, which involves forcing 3 to 4-year-old toddlers to fight each other.
Authorities said that two daycare teachers decided to turn themselves in on Thursday, Nov. 9, after law enforcement officials received warrants for their arrest. Here are other details shared by the Newberry County Sheriff's Office.
South Carolina: Daycare Employees Allegedly Run Child Fight Ring
Kindergarten students lie on the floor during a classroom lockdown drill February 18, 2003 in Oahu, Hawaii. Lockdown procedure is used to protect school children from possible threats on campus such as intruders, terrorism or military attack.
According to Fox News' latest report, the Newberry County Sheriff's Office identified the two daycare staff suspects as 56-year-old Serena Caldwell and 27-year-old Ericka Jones.
They were working at the Kids Unlimited of Prosperity daycare center in Prosperity, South Carolina. On Friday,
Nov. 10, the Newberry County Sheriff's Office released a press release, saying that the two daycare teachers contributed to the delinquency of a minor, as well as unlawful conduct to the child.
After knowing about the incident, the daycare center's owner, John David Dawkins, confirmed that the two suspects had been fired because of their behavior, which was shown by the facility's security footage.
"It was brought to the attention of our senior staff members that possible offensive behavior by two staff members may have occurred," said the daycare center's owner via WISTV.
"After viewing security camera footage the two staff members were immediately terminated," he added.
Dawkins said to the public that they would provide more information regarding the ongoing investigation. However, the details will be specifically announced by the South Carolina Dept. of Social Services and The Newberry County Sheriff's Dept.
Daycare Teachers Face Multiple Charges
Dhaija Smith, 4, (L) finishes her milk during breakfast with her classmates at the Brown E. Moore Head Start Center July 22, 2003 in Shreveport, Louisiana. Federal legislators are currently debating the Bush Administration's plan for a change in the federally administered funding for the 38 year-old Head Start program.
Based on the ongoing investigation, Caldwell and Jones both instructed the young children on how they should fight each other. These include ordering them to slap, push, and shove during a fight.
Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said that this illegal activity seriously injured some of the kids. Meanwhile, other children could suffer from long-lasting emotional trauma.
Foster said that the two daycare teachers see the child ring fight as equivalent to a sporting event. An incident report claimed that Jones even recorded one of the fights on her phone.
"We've had daycare workers that have assaulted children, and daycare workers that may have taken punishment a bit too far, but nothing like this," said Foster.
As of writing, Jones faces 14 counts of each of the mentioned charges above. Meanwhile, Caldwell faces 15 counts for each charge.
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