The 32-year-old preschool teacher is facing felony charges for hitting a 4-year-old child repeatedly. The woman apprehended with charges of third-degree child abuse on Wednesday. A witness allegedly heard screams coming from the playground of KinderCare Learning Center in Florida, according to a press release from the PCSO. The officers responded to the call made by a witness shortly before 1 p.m. on August 10.
During the investigation which is ongoing, it was found that the witness observed the teacher, later identified as Ashley Richards, yelling at the victim and repeatedly punching the child with both an open and closed fist to the back and side of the head.
As per People, the witness also saw the teacher pushing the child to the ground and yelling: ‘Do you want me to hit you?’ He proceeded to capture the entire incident on his phone.
In the video, which has been seen by the deputies, Richards is allegedly seen pulling the child over her legs and punching him while the child screamed, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the TBT.
The 4-year-old boy stated in an interview with the authorities that he was fighting with his brother when the teacher pulled him up and started to yell at him, according to the affidavit. Richards, however, denied hitting or punching the child, when the authorities interviewed her.
Richards has been a preschool teacher at KinderCare Learning Center since March 2021. She has been placed on Administrative Leave as a result of the incident.
“The teacher’s alleged actions do not reflect who we are or the training we provide our teachers,” KinderCare public relations manager Colleen Moran said in a statement. “We are working with the police to determine what may or may not have happened. In the meantime, the teacher involved is on administrative leave until further notice.”
A parent picking up his kids from the preschool on Thursday told ABC Action News that he was as shocked as anyone.
“I mean it’s unfortunate. I don’t know all the details.” The parent was thankful that they live in a “country where there is due process,” and also that the daycare worker would “be able to stand trial and plead her case.” The parent, who wished to stay anonymous, said, “I had never had any negative interactions. She’d been nothing but respectful to me and my family, my children.”