A surveillance camera captured a home daycare employee physically harming two children, including by putting wet wipes into their mouths and “slamming” one of them on a changing table, according to police.
Samantha Pearson was changing the children’s diapers when she pushed wipes into their mouths “to get them to stop crying” at a home in Moore, Oklahoma, on June 26, according to an affidavit obtained by KOCO-TV. Moore is about a 10-mile drive south from Oklahoma City.
Pearson, 25, was caring for several children that day, the affidavit said.
She has been charged with three counts of child abuse, the District 21 District Attorney’s Office announced in a news release on Tuesday, August 25. The office serves Cleveland, Garland and McClain counties.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the district attorney’s office said “investigators reviewed video” showing Pearson allegedly “physically mistreating” children.
The district attorney’s office’s news release initially indicated the children were babies, but office spokesperson Xavier Cullens confirmed via email that they were ages 3 and 4 in response to an inquiry from Us.
At the home daycare on June 26, Pearson was also seen putting a different wet wipe into one child’s mouth as they tried to spit out another, the affidavit said, according to KOCO-TV.
Surveillance footage additionally caught her “slamming” one of the two children on a changing table when they went to “crawl away,” the TV station reported per the affidavit.
She additionally “open-hand” slapped the child, the footage showed, according to police.
As of August 25, Pearson was being held on a $300,000 bond, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors did not specify who owns the home daycare where Pearson worked.
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services is investigating the alleged abuse, the agency confirmed to KOCO-TV. The department also said Pearson lacks a childcare license.
In announcing the charges against Pearson, the District 21 District Attorney’s Office said: “Charges are based on probable cause that a person has committed a crime. All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.”
Someone found guilty of child abuse in Oklahoma could face up to life in prison and up to a $5,000 fine, according to Hunsucker Legal Group, a law firm based in Oklahoma City.
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
