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A Clermont, Fla. daycare director has been charged with child abuse after being caught on camera allegedly hitting and dropping a four-year-old child.
Kimberly Reid, 41, was seen on cell phone video using what appears to be stuffed animals to strike an unidentified boy multiple times. Reid is then seen in the footage picking the child up a few feet into the air and then dropping him onto a mat.
A worker at the daycare secretly recorded Reid because she “was uncomfortable with Reid’s behaviour,” according to NBC.
The abuse against the child had allegedly been going on for three weeks.
The unknown employee sent the recording to the Florida Department of Children and Families that then contacted police.
WATCH: Florida daycare director caught on camera allegedly abusing 4-year-old boy. Daniel Dahm reports.
According to officials, the boy was not hurt and is doing fine.
“Oh, my God. I’d kill her, as a mom, I’m sorry,” Tricha Ramos said to WFTV about the incident. “It’s ridiculous. That’s crazy. I’m upset.”
Officials say Reid said she was only playing with the child.
“She basically chalked it up [as] ‘rough play’,” Clermont Police Officer Erin Razo said to WFTV News.
WFTV also reported the owner of the facility is planning to give up the daycare’s license, and that on Monday there was a sign on the door of the daycare that read: “Temporarily closed due to ownership change.”
Reid has been reported to have been in trouble with the law before, pleading guilty to charges of “grand theft, welfare fraud, and organized fraud in Orange County.”
She was also on probation during the time of the incident.
Officials said there’s no evidence at this time to indicate another child had been abused at the facility.
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