Nursery worker arrested for 'attacking little boy as he sleeps'

Kimberly Reid has been charged with child abuse after police were passed secretly filmed footage

A nursery worker has been filmed allegedly hitting a sleeping young boy with stuffed animals before picking him up and dropping him.

Kimberly Reid was arrested on child abuse charges after police were passed the footage, which appears to show her striking towards the four year-old with soft toys.

The mobile phone footage, recorded at the Children’s Palace nursery where Ms Reid is a director, in Clermont, Florida, was sent to the US Department of Children and Families, which then alerted the police.


 The secretly filmed footage
 (Lake County Sheriff's Office)

In the short video, said to have been recorded during children’s nap time at the nursery, a woman can be seen repeatedly striking at the bed with the animals, one in each hand, before cutting away.

When it cuts back, the woman picks up a boy with both hands and drops him from around waist height on the bed.

Kimberly Reid (Lake County Sheriff's Office)

Ms Reid, 41, who was arrested on 29 January, is accused of abusing the boy over the course of at least three weeks, WFTV reported.

She was charged with two counts of child abuse and will appear in court on 22 February. She was granted $3,000 bail.

 

According to an incident report filed by a Child Protective Services investigator, Clermont Police were told by Ms Reid that the video was "not what it appears to be" and that she had just been playing rough with the boy.

The nursery will now close, after the owner decide not to renew its day-care licence.