CRANFORD, N.J., Sept. 2 (UPI) — Two New Jersey women are facing charges for allegedly staging fights between 4- to 6-year-old children at a day care in Cranford.
Erica Kenny, 22, and Chanese White, 28, were accused of making references to the movie Fight Club when they allegedly incited children to fight each other on the playground at Lightbridge Academy in August.
Investigators obtained a Snapchat video the employees allegedly took of the staged fights. Snapchat videos typically disappear and are erased from mobile phones automatically 10 seconds after viewing them, but one of the recipients made a recording of a video they received.
Acting Union Country Prosecutor Grace Park told WCBS 880 that “most parents would be astonished” to see the images of the children “just fighting, throwing each other to the ground, hitting each other.”
The charges stem from an alleged fight staged on Aug. 13 but investigators are trying to determine if the practice was ongoing.
Neighbors told CBS New York that White, one of the accused workers, was very nice and the accusations were “unbelievable.” At a news conference, day care Vice President Jaclyn Falzarano avoided explaining how no one at the facility knew about the fights beforehand, saying the day care seeks to focus on the point that “all of the children are safe. That is our No. 1 priority.”
There were no reports of serious injuries and the employees have both been fired. Both are charged with child abuse and one is charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
The center also said it is retraining all of its employees.
