A second daycare worker has been convicted for turning her classroom (nicknamed “The Monkey Room”) into a “baby fight club” by making the toddlers in her care fight and for abusing them in other ways.
Kierra Spriggs and a co-worker encouraged the youngsters to bite and fight each other and apparently engaged in the abuse for sport. They also sprayed the toddlers with high pressure water hoses. The report from the Virginia Department of Social Services stated that the workers stomped on the toddlers’ toes and covered their mouths with blankets, and abused the small children in this and other ways.
Two other teachers at the daycare testified that Spriggs systemically mistreated the toddlers and even encouraged twin sisters to fight. One of the teachers testified that Spriggs fed a toddler a Flamin’ Hot Cheeto leaving the small girl gasping to breathe.
The pair was busted after one of their co-workers called child protective services.
The twenty-six-year old was convicted by a Prince William County, Virginia, jury for her role in abusing the toddlers aged sixteen months to two years, as reported by NBC 4 in Washington, D.C. The jury in Virginia convicted Spriggs of four felony counts of child cruelty and two misdemeanor counts of assault and battery.
Parents of the children noticed that their children were afraid of water, stopped talking, and/or became very aggressive.
Distraught parents testified during the trial of Spriggs’ co-worker that the children would stomp on their parents’ toes, some refused to take a bath, and most cried when they were brought to the daycare center.
Another former daycare worker, Sarah Jordan, was found guilty on 13 counts in January, as reported by the NBC affiliate. She was found guilty on seven felony charges and six misdemeanor charges of child cruelty, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and assault and battery. There had originally been 39 charges against Jordan but the judge dismissed 22 of them on the grounds that there was not enough evidence for these charges. She was also found not guilty on four of the charges.
Desiree Edwards, a co-worker at the Minnieland Academy at The Glen in Woodbridge testified that she saw Jordan trip one of the children when she was running. She also saw Spriggs dump water on a child’s head making the toddler cry. She called authorities when management took no action after she reported the abuse.
Expert witnesses in the trial against Jordan included five therapists who had used play therapy to determine whether the young children had been abused. One of these experts said one of the toddlers kept burying two kitten figurines in the sand. She testified that this is a sign that a child has been abused.
One the fathers testified during Jordan’s trial that his daughter “completely stopped talking.” He also testified, “She would stomp her mom’s feet. She would run in and slap us for no apparent reason and start giggling.”
Spriggs could be sentenced to up to five years in prison on each of the four felony child cruelty counts, and up to twelve months on each misdemeanor count of assault and battery.
Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2
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