A DAYCARE director was hit with a string of child abuse charges after ‘bone-chilling’ footage emerged of kids being driven off in an SUV with the back door still open.
The director of Midwood Learning Center, Leslye Torrence, was arrested by Charlotte cops on March 8 following the shocking incident.
WBTVMidwood Learning Academy was shut down by the state following charged of child abuse by the facility’s director[/caption]
WBTVThe center’s director, Leslye Torrence, was arrested by cops and charged with child abuse misdemeanors[/caption]
The frightening footage footage showed daycare children piled on top of each other in the back of the vehicle.
None of the kids were wearing seatbelts or safely strapped into car seats, and one parent called the images “bone-chilling.”
The incident led to an investigation and a subsequent suspension of the daycare’s license.
Torrence, the daycare’s director, was arrested by police and charged with six counts of child abuse and given a $60,000 bond.
She was scheduled to go on trial Wednesday, however her case has now been moved to October 24.
The warrant worksheet states Torrence took the kids to the park.
However, she claims she wasn’t there when the incident happened and that there’s a reason the driver sped off.
Torrence’s mother, Shirley Torrence, has since apologized and said the issue was a misunderstanding.
She added that all involved employees have been fired and has asserted that her daughter is innocent.
“I apologize on behalf of my staff…that was negligence,” she said.
“We have corrected that.
“I stand by the fact that we are people who love children, we want to protect them and keep them out of harm’s way and help them to want to go get an education.”
The father of one of the children involved slammed the daycare center for its failure of responsibility.
“My daughter is laying across the lap of other kids that don’t have seatbelts, about to fall out,” he seethed.
“It’s unfathomable.”
The father, also claimed that there was a lack of structure at the day care and pointed to alleged systemic problems that jeopardized the kids’ safety, local NBC news affiliate WCNC reported.
“There were real systemic problems within the day care, that again, put these kids lives in jeopardy, which is crazy to say out loud,” he continued.
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