Chloe Kaye Johnson and Elizabeth Augusta Wiemerslage daycare workers at Small World Daycare Center in Blaine, Minnesota caught committing shocking child abuse on video on at least 3 infants with allegations of ongoing cruelty and mistreatment.
Two employees at a Minnesota daycare have been arrested after they were caught on surveillance video committing ‘exceptionally shocking’ abuse on three infants in their care, including flipping, dragging and slamming their victims leading in one instance to one baby having their leg broken.
Chloe Kaye Johnson, 24, of Andover and Elizabeth Augusta Wiemerslage, 22, of Coon Rapids, Anoka County were both charged with felony malicious punishment of a child under 4, assault against a victim under 4, and two counts of malicious punishment of a child, KMSP reported.
Exceptionally shocking child abuse
Both Johnson and Wiemerslage were arrested on Thursday but were released on Friday after posting bail.
Johnson was the primary teacher in the infant’s room, and Wiemerslage was the other teacher, the complaint states.
Blaine police were called to Small World Daycare Center after a 5-month-old girl was found with unexplained bruising on her body. The girl’s parents said they dropped their daughter off on the morning of July 16 with no bruising, but when they picked her up that afternoon, the found bruising across the lower half of her body.
When they contacted the daycare center they were told the bruising ‘might be from the chair or swing in the immobile infant room,’ according to a probable cause statement.
‘Although we have been forced to investigate other terrible acts of child abuse, this one is exceptionally shocking.,’ Blaine Police said in a statement. ‘Most parents drop their children off at day care centers believing that their child will be safe, especially since there is usually more than one care provider watching their child at any one given time. In this case, we found two workers working together with infants, both aggressively abusing children.’
Court documents said Johnson and Wiemerslage also said the bruising could have come from infant chairs because the child ‘slumps’ in her chair.
Violently slamming and aggressively shoving
But when officers viewed surveillance footage from the infant room, they saw both Johnson and Wiemerslage being rough with the children in their care, the Star Tribune reported.
In one video, Johnson is seen sitting on the floor with the 5-month-old moving her around ‘aggressively’ before grabbing the lower half of her body and ‘violently’ flipping her back and forth from stomach to back.
The charging document says the baby’s arms were flailing, her body was rigid, and her head was unsupported. The video contained no audio, but the baby could be seen screaming.
The documents also say that Johnson picked up another infant ‘roughly’ and held ‘a cloth over the [second] infant’s mouth for several seconds while the infant is crying.’ She also grabbed that child’s neck firmer and ‘violently pulls them up by the arm,’ repeatedly shoving a bottle in and out of the baby’s mouth.
Wiemerslage is seen with the same infant, ‘violently’ slamming her onto a support pillow. She was also seen ‘aggressively shoving [a third infant] down onto a changing table.’
Allegations of ongoing abuse and mistreatment
The documents say Wiemerslage ‘aggressively drags’ the 5-month-old across a mat ad ‘slams’ her into a support pillow, pressing down on her torso.
The complaint stated Johnson admitting being ‘too rough’ while she was helping the babies roll over. Wiemerslage also admitted her behavior was wrong.
Investigators said the 5-month-old had bruising on nine areas of her body. The other two had further bruising, and one had a leg fracture that was likely about two weeks old.
Posted the parents of the 5 month old, Cody and Christina Pech in a Facebook post:
‘He received scratches and bruises all over his body and suffered a fractured leg from their abuse. The despicable humans that did this were arrested on Thursday but are already out on bail. Please share this post so the world knows what these evil human beings did.’
A search of social media found a Facebook post by another person who claimed they pulled their child out of the same facility a month earlier after the child repeatedly had ‘multiple mysterious’ injuries that included a bloody nose, rug burns, and marks on his body. ‘People knew what was going on there and did nothing,’ Rhianna Rea Lee posted.
Court records show Wiemerslage upon making bail on Friday granted a public defender and Johnson having retained a private attorney. Wiemerslage is scheduled to make her next court appearance on Aug. 12, Johnson on Sept. 19 according to Alpha News.
Blaine Police said the daycare center is cooperating with the investigation, and they asked families to contact them if they saw any unexplained injuries on their children.
