ROCKLEDGE, Fla. – New details allege the abuse police said was happening inside a Rockledge daycare.
Rockledge police now say children were “tortured” at the hands of employees, Kia Walker, Nativia King, and Stacy Hamilton Jackson.
A defense attorney at their first court appearances Saturday at the Brevard County jail said the defendants are the general manager, a teacher, and a cook at Gingerbread Manor Child Care Center.
Monday, after Judge Kelly McKibben let all three go home on pretrial release, police released a new report which reads, according to DCF, “All the teachers hit the children as a form of punishment. The teachers either hit with open hands or a wooden spoon.”
[BELOW: Three childcare workers in Rockledge now face child abuse charges]
The daycare was locked when your Rockledge Community Correspondent James Sparvero came to ask if the owner would like to respond to the allegations.
Sparvero did get to speak with an attorney for two of the victims’ families, Brynn Brito.
“I can tell you that there is significant bruising, incredible emotional damage,” Brito said about the children.
During a court hearing over the weekend, defense attorney Tim McCullough said the arrest reports outlined no indication of injury.
“The only evidence in this case came from the interviews of a couple children who are ages 1 to 4,” McCullough said.
Police said video evidence shows abuse.
The report reads, “Almost every time the suspects were captured on video, they seemed angry and were torturing the children for no apparent reason, causing them to cry, flinch, and be scared.”
When Sparvero requested the video from the daycare, records told him not while the investigation is active.
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