Yvette Thurston, Georgia daycare worker at Little Blessings Child Care in Bainbridge caught on video beating 1 year old boy, Clay Weeks on first day of school at childcare facility.
A Georgia daycare worker has been accused of leaving a one year old boy with a black eye and a swollen face after allegedly assaulting the child on the first day of school.
Yvette Thurston, 54, is alleged to have assaulted Clay Weeks at Little Blessings Child Care in Bainbridge, close to the Florida border at the start of the school year.
Following her arrest on Monday the childcare worker was booked on three counts of first-degree child abuse and one of first-degree aggravated battery, WALB reported.
‘A day care worker in Georgia was arrested earlier this week following a report of alleged child abuse. Bainbridge police say Yvette Thurston, 54, was taken into custody Monday & faces charges of first-degree aggravated battery & three counts of first-degree child abuse’
– WCTV pic.twitter.com/M8WufYImEd— The Daily Sneed™ (@Tr00peRR) August 17, 2025
Boy’s father was initially told another child attacked 1 year old
The boy’s father, Cory Weeks, shared images of his toddler’s son’s injuries on social media, including posting graphic images showing the infant boy’s badly battered face, including a black eye, swelling to his right cheek and multiple cuts.
‘This is every parent’s worst nightmare and we had to live it and are still living it,’ he wrote on social media, describing how Clay and his older brother Wyatt, 3, had started at the daycare facility on Monday.
‘We were told another child in Clay’s class did this type of damage with a plastic toy,’ the dad said, before adding that he eventually tracked down video surveillance footage of the incident that showed Thurston instead attacking and assaulting his son.
‘Nothing we saw was for the faint-hearted, especially happening to such an innocent soul,’ the father said.
‘The severity of the acts of violence to our son has everyone confident that this was not her first time. We trusted this facility to care and love our kids and on their first day that was violated,’ the parent wrote.
‘There will be more coming from this, and we will make sure nothing is ‘swept under the rug,’ the dad said.
Clay was rushed to the Memorial Hospital and Manor where his injuries were treated.
Specific details about the case or allegations were not immediately released, but Decatur County investigators confirmed that they were able to view surveillance footage from the daycare which contributed to the investigation.
Thurston has since been fired from the childcare facility.
‘It is our understanding that the employee has been terminated by the child care program,’ a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) shared in a statement with the nypost.
‘As our investigation is still in its early stages, DECAL will continue to work closely with law enforcement and all relevant parties to ensure a comprehensive review of the facts,’ the statement continued.
Representatives for Little Blessings Child Care declined to respond to overtures for media comment.
