Journey church daycare abuse trials begin in Prattville

Breaking news in the Montgomery area
Breaking news in the Montgomery area

PRATTVILLE — Trials began Tuesday in a high-profile Prattville child abuse case, involving seven victims under the age of two, three co-defendants and 44 charges.

The abuse allegedly occurred over a period of time at the Journey Church daycare. The defendants, all women, were arrested in May and face a total of 44 charges, according to District Attorney C.J. Robinson and court records. The non-denominational church is in the 400 block of Sheila Boulevard.

Charged are:

  • Susan Baker, of Prattville, with 13 counts of child abuse and six counts of failure to report child abuse

  • Leah Livingston, of Deatsville, charged with eight counts of child abuse and five counts of failure to report child abuse

  • Alice Sorrells, of Deatsville, charged with seven counts of child abuse and five counts of failure to report child abuse

Under Alabama law, daycare workers are among those considered “mandatory reporters,” meaning they must report evidence or suspicion of child abuse to law enforcement.

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Livingston and Sorrells are being tried together, and their trials began Tuesday. The same jury will render verdicts for both. Baker filed a motion last week withdrawing her request for a jury trial, instead seeking a bench trial where the judge will hand down the verdict.

Her trial date has not been set.

The women were assigned as "teachers" in the toddler room, Assistant District Attorney Sarah Speaks told the jury in her opening statement.

“This is a case about trust and betrayal,” she told the panel. “Parents of the victims placed their trust in the teachers at Journey daycare to love them, care for them and keep them safe while they (parents) were away. Leah Livingston and Alice Sorrels betrayed that trust.”

Speaks went on to name all seven victims. The Montgomery Advertiser is not naming the victims due to their ages and the nature of the charges. The children were between the ages of 10 to 15 months at the time of the alleged abuse.

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Prosecutors are relying on video surveillance footage from the classrooms of the daycare to show the incidents of alleged abuse.

“You will hear the cries of these babies,” Speaks said.

The defense strategy, given opening statements to the jury, appears to be that any acts caught on tape do not rise to the legal definition of child abuse under the law.

Richard Lively represents Livingston. He railed against “liberal ideology,” and its threat to “…conservative, Southern culture,” in his opening statement. The impact of liberal ideology is to change and shift definitions of words from their commonly accepted meanings, he told the panel.

He showed the panel a poster defining the elements of the law against child abuse.

“In these tapes I anticipate you will see, there is nothing that rises to the level of torture, willful abuse, cruelly beating or otherwise maltreatment of a child that is required by the law,” Lively said. “What the evidence will show is that none of the parents leveled one complaint against the daycare relating to the treatment of their child. There are no medical records showing bruising, scratches or broken bones.”

Tom Azar, the lawyer for Sorrells added little in his opening statements, other than reminding them that both women are innocent until all the jurors made their decision. He also implored the jury to reserve making any judgments until all the evidence had been presented.

The alleged abuse came to light in March, when a newly hired teacher was assigned to the toddler room. Speaks said in her opening that the new teacher saw “disturbing behavior,” at naptime relating to how the children were treated and “immediately” went to the daycare’s director to report her concerns.

That’s how the investigations began.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Journey church daycare abuse trials begin in Prattville Alabama