Aiken woman charged after allegedly hitting 3-year-old
Apr. 6—An Aiken woman late last month was charged with unlawful neglect of a child or helpless person after allegedly hitting a 3-year-old she was looking after at a local day care center.
Nicole Monique Charleswell, 27, struck the young child in the stomach while she was in charge of a classroom at South Aiken Baptist Day Care, according to an arrest warrant provided by the Aiken Department of Public Safety. The child later told an officer that "his teacher had hit him in the stomach," documents show.
It is unclear if Charleswell still works at the daycare; management was not available for comment, the Aiken Standard was told Tuesday.
The alleged incident happened Feb. 25. It was not the first time Charleswell had been "accused of assaulting a child," according to daycare Director Ailene Treadway, whose account was included in a Public Safety incident report.
Treadway told Charleswell she "was going to have to fire her," according the report. Charleswell was placed on trespass notice, documents show, and was arrested March 25.
An inquiry made to the Aiken County detention center on Tuesday afternoon was not immediately returned. A search for Charleswell in the center's detainee database returned no results.
