Day care workers did nothing as kids bullied 5-year-old girl

Two day care workers in Ohio have been arrested after they were caught on video doing nothing as older students bullied and assaulted a “frightened” 5-year-old girl, police said.

Video footage obtained by detectives in Columbus showed Joshua Tennant, 27, and Emma Dietrich, 31, making no attempt to stop several kids from taunting the girl at the Worthington Learning Center on Aug. 13, police said.

The pair was busted Tuesday on misdemeanor counts of child endangerment — after admitting they refused to stop the attack as a twisted form of discipline, according to court documents cited by WCMH.

“In the video, the older students are grabbing, pulling, dragging, swinging and just ‘bullying’ [the girl],” police said in an incident report. “She appears frightened and keeps her eyes closed or covered and attempts to curl up into a fetal position.”

The girl then tried to get away from the older students, but she was held down. As the bullying continued, police said Dietrich and Tennant “continually” sat at a table nearby and took no steps to stop the onslaught.

Later in the footage, Tennant picked up the 5-year-old girl by her right ankle and left leg and carried her upside down, placing her back on a rug near her tormentors, police said.

The owner of the day care center said she was “heartbroken” by what she saw on the video and immediately fired Dietrich and Tennant, both of Columbus, after seeing the footage, WBNS reported. The video was sent to child welfare investigators.

Several parents, meanwhile, told the station Tennant had been wonderful with their children and that they never suspected any problems at the family-operated facility. Some parents plan to remove their children after the arrests, WCMH reported.

via: https://nypost.com/2019/09/11/day-care-workers-did-nothing-as-kids-bullied-5-year-old-girl-cops/

Photo Credit: Franklin County Jail