Daycare workers who were fired earlier this month for using a scary mask to terrify children are now facing felony charges.
As perezcious readers will know, four workers from Natchez, Mississippi were fired from Lil’ Blessings Childcare and Learning Center in early October after a video surfaced showing the workers scaring preschoolers. In the clip, a masked worker made their way around a table where children were seated having snack time. The employee can be heard shouting in the faces of the kids who start to scream and cry with fear. Some of these poor kids even attempted to run away from the figures — who was wearing a mask from the slasher franchise Scream — but the adults in question chased them and shouted things such as “Clean up!” and “You best be good!”. You can see the disturbing video (below):
Just awful!
At the time, a woman known only as CeeCee posted a video to Facebook claiming to be one of the workers — insisting no one meant any harm:
“It wasn’t meant to harm anybody and it wasn’t ill-intentioned … I didn’t go in there with intentions to literally traumatize those children. I expected them to react the way they reacted when I did it.”
But whether harm was meant or not, all of the workers involved are facing some serious punishment…
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According to a Facebook post made by Monroe County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, a total of five people have been arrested in relation to the incident: Sierra McCandless, Oci-Anna Kilburn, Jennifer Newman, Shyenne Mills, and Traci Hutson (pictured above, from left to right). The post states on Monday the MCSD met with the parents of the children to discuss possible charges — and by Wednesday one of the parents had already filed charges for felony child abuse to which multiple parents followed suit. Within 2 hours of issuing warrants on Thursday, all five workers were booked into Monroe County Jail without incident.
Via the post, four out of the five who were arrested are facing multiple counts of felony child abuse:
“Sierra McCandless – 3 counts felony child abuse
Oci-Anna Kilburn – 3 counts felony child abuse
Jennifer Newman – 3 counts felony child abuse
Shyenne Mills – 3 counts felony child abuse
Traci Hutson – failure to report abuse by mandatory reporter & and simple assault.”
Whoa.
On Friday, the four suspects facing felonies went before a judge and had their bonds set — the smallest amount being $15,000:
“This morning, October 20, 2022, the 4 suspects on felony charges had an initial appearance and their bonds were set:
McCandless and Kilburn were each set at $20,000 and Newman and Mills at $15,000. Bonds were set by Justice Court Judge Sarah Stevens.”
The workers now await trial by Grand Jury and will potentially have to face jail time if indicted. MCSD has stated the case is still ongoing. You can read the full post (below):
We’re glad these children are getting justice for the trauma they were caused — but does the punishment fit the crime? Let us know your thoughts in the comments (below).
[Image via Monroe County Sheriff’s Office/WTVA 9 News/YouTube]
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