Five charged after video of day care worker in mask scaring kids
A viral video showing a former Mississippi day care worker scaring kids in her care while while wearing a creepy mask has prompted child abuse charges against five day care workers, NBC affiliate WTVA of Tupelo reported.
The video, which WTVA reports was filmed Oct. 4 at Lil’ Blessings Child Care in Monroe County, prompted an investigation by the Mississippi State Department of Health and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office days after it surfaced on social media, The Associated Press reported.
Former employees Sierra McCandless, Oci-Anna Kilburn, Jennifer Newman and Shyenne Shelton each face three counts of felony child abuse, and Traci Hutson faces failure to report abuse and simple assault against a minor, both misdemeanors, WTVA reported.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to questions.
The day care facility and its owner, who state documents identify as Sheila Sanders, could not immediately be reached.
Sanders previously told the Monroe Journal that she fired the employees involved after learning about the incident, which she said she wasn’t aware of until she learned about the video.
“I don’t condone that and never have,” Sanders told the newspaper.
The video in question shows an unidentified employee of Lil’ Blessings Child Care in Hamilton wandering around screaming and crying children in what appears to be a mask depicting Ghostface, the main villain in the 1990s horror film “Scream.”
Another unmasked employee stands off to the side. It is unknown who filmed the video.
At one point, the masked employee points to a child and looks at the unmasked employee, who responds, “bad.”
The masked worker then leans in close to that child’s face.
This story was originally published on NBCNews.com.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
