LEXINGTON, N.C. — Parents whose kids attend a North Carolina day care center are furious after they said a video shows teachers assaulting their children.
“I am sick over this. I’m mad," Brianna Gilmore, whose son attends the Von's Kids in Lexington, NC, told WCNC Charlotte's Richard DeVayne. "They know how I am about my children.”
Gilmore’s sons, ages one-, two-, and six-year-old, attended the center until another mother shared the disturbing video recorded inside the day care center. The video was something the facility's director allegedly tried to have erased.
“People should not bring their kids to a place like that. It's not safe," Shonie Hadnett said. "We don’t know what they’re doing to our children. We don’t know how long they've been doing this to our children.”
Hadnett shared her video on Facebook, where other parents, such as Gilmore, could view it.
Hadnett initially requested to view surveillance video from the school after growing concerned about her son, a toddler who attended the day care. As she watched the requested video, she also scrolled to recordings from other days. That’s when she said she saw several incidents not only with her child but with other children too. She said it made her blood boil.
"Both of the teachers in the class were throwing things on the floor," Hadnett recalled. "She smacked a kid in the head with a paper.”
Hadnett continued watching.
"She threw the boy to the floor two times," she said. "She hit a kid with a toy. Another teacher got up out of her chair. She went and slapped the kid right on the butt.”
None of these incidents were ever reported to parents. Hadnett said she recorded the videos with her cell phone. When she confronted the facility's director, Hadnett recalls that instead of addressing the issue the director called the sheriff’s office demanding Hadnett erase the video.
When deputies arrived, they told Hadnett she did not have to erase the video. That's when Hadnett decided to post the video to Facebook in order to alert other parents of the happenings inside Von’s Day Care.
Gilmore drove to the day care center to speak with the director, who Gilmore said threatened to call the police if Gilmore did not leave.
"I looked her straight in her face: 'I trusted you with my children,'" Gilmore recalled.
When WCNC Charlotte reached out to Von's Day Care, a worker referred us to their attorney, who has not responded.
The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to WCNC Charlotte they have launched an investigation into the allegations.
For now, parents are left trying to find a new place they feel safe leaving their children.
Contact Richard DeVayne at rdevayne@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.