Childcare Workers Allegedly Tormented Boy With Autism on Social Media

Two childcare workers have turned themselves into Florida police custody after video footage surfaced of them “berating, taunting and throwing a backpack” at an 8-year-old child with autism, ABC Action News reports.

Winter Haven Police were made aware of a Snapchat videos on Sept. 1 showing Kaderrica Smith, 26, and Alexus Henderson, 19, harming the student at Our Children’s Academy where they both worked as employees.

Warrants were issued for the arrests of Smith, who is charged with battery and child abuse, and Henderson, who faces a single count of child neglect, after police couldn’t locate the women. They later turned themselves in.

The footage, which runs 3 minutes, allegedly shows the boy hiding under a table, crying, while Henderson and Smith taunt him maliciously.

The police statement alleges that “at one point, the child comes from under the table, runs around the room and attempts to run towards one of the workers when she grabs his arms and does a ‘leg sweep’ causing the child to fall flat on his back,” PEOPLE reports.

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Afterward, one of the women is filmed “throwing shoes and a backpack at the child.” Police say the video shows the boy, who has been diagnosed with autism, reacting to the abuse in “both a verbal and physical manner.”

“There has to be an accountability measure for folks,” said Winter Haven Police Chief Charlie Bird to ABC Action News. “Especially when they’re supposed to be the professionals. They get hired as the professionals, they’re being paid as the professionals.”

The police statement cites that both Henderson and Smith initially told their employers they had acted appropriately and did nothing wrong. Both women had just received their childcare certifications last month, but they have now been suspended, preventing them from getting another job working with children. Both were also fired from Our Children’s Academy.

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“Those aren’t methods that you can even begin to defend as being used to defuse a situation with an autistic child,” said Bird. “These workers were supposed to be trained in how to handle children with behavioral issues. They are trained to de-escalate situations, but that obviously did not happen.”

Smith and Henderson turned themselves into police custody on Friday where they were booked in the Polk County Jail. Henderson has been bonded out, while Smith was held without bond. During her first court appearance Friday, her bond was set at $5,000 and she has been forbidden contact with minors and must stay away from the school.