The two Winter Haven child care workers accused of abusing an autistic child on video have turned themselves in to authorities.
- Police alerted to video on Sept. 1
- Incident occurred at Our Children's Academy
- School immediately fired workers
Winter Haven police said Kaderrica Smith, 26 and Alexis Henderson, 20, turned themselves in to authorities late Thursday. They were then booked into the Polk County jail. The two worked at Our Children's Academy.
Henderson, who was charged with child neglect, has bonded out. Smith, who faces charges of child abuse and battery is being held without bond. Smith will have first appearance Friday.
According to police, Smith and Henderson posted a video to Snapchat on Sept. 1 showing them taunting, yelling, and tripping the victim, who can be seen crying and hiding under a table.
At one point in the recording, the child comes out from under the table and runs at one of the workers, who then grabs his arms and uses her leg to sweep the boy's feet out from under him, causing him to fall on his back.
The video lasted approximately three minutes, according to officials. During the video, one of the workers can be seen throwing a backpack at the boy, which hits him in the face.
Another portion of the video shows the child throwing something across the room, and one of the women can be heard saying, "Your face gonna be in the toilet."
During an initial interview regarding the incident, both Smith and Henderson said they felt they did nothing wrong, according to Winter Haven Police Chief Charlie Bird.
The facility reportedly fired them immediately, and the Department of Children and Families placed a hold on their certifications so they could not be re-employed by any entity working with children for the duration of the investigation into this incident.
A follow-up interview with a Child Protection Team member on Sept. 15 determined that both Smith and Henderson committed criminal acts in dealing with the child.