Oct. 21 (UPI) — Former workers at a daycare in Mississippi have been charged with child abuse after one employee wore a Halloween mask to scare children in their care in videos that went viral on social media.
The workers — Sierra McCandless, Oci-Anna Kilburn, Jennifer Newman and Shyenne Shelton — each were charged with three counts of felony child abuse for the incident at at Lil’ Blessings Daycare in Hamilton, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
During their arraignment Thursday, bond amounts of $20,000 were set for McCandless and Kilburn, while bond amounts of $15,000 were set for Newman and Mills, officials said.
A fifth worker, Traci Hutson, faces misdemeanor charges of failure to report abuse and simple assault against a minor.
Law enforcement officials said their charges stemmed from an incident on Oct. 4. In a video shown by Good Morning America, a worker wearing the mask can be seen chasing after children as they scream and run away from her.
Prosecutors with the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office met with parents of the children involved in the incident to make them aware of the possibility of criminal charges Monday. At least one set of parents had filed charges by Tuesday.
The felony charges will be presented before a grand jury to decide whether enough evidence exists to indict the workers on their charges.
Katelyn Johnson, a parent of one of the children attending the daycare, told Good Morning America that her son has been having difficulty sleeping through the night and shows signs of trauma.
“I hope you’re enjoying jail,” she said. “And I hope you realize what you’ve done is serious. And it’s not a joke. And it’s nothing to laugh at.”
State documents identify the daycare owner as Sheila Sanders, who previously told the Monroe Journal that the workers had been fired after the video went viral on Facebook.
“The people that did those acts are no longer with us. They were fired,” she said. “I wasn’t here at the time and wasn’t aware they were doing that. I don’t condone that and never have. I just want to say it’s been taken care of.”
