MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CRIME & JUSTICE

Investigation launched against Mississippi daycare workers who terrorized children wearing Halloween mask

While the videos received criticism from all corners, the parents have stood by the daycare and its owner

HAMILTON, MISSISSIPPI: Four daycare workers were fired after video emerged of an employee donning a Halloween mask and scaring toddlers in their care. In the viral video from last week, children could be seen screaming and covering their faces in sheer terror as an employee moves around them in a mask. However, the employee in question, CeeCee, claims that she was only scaring children who were "bad" for not cleaning up properly. Another employee is seen pointing out the 'bad' children to the woman in the mask. The Mississippi State Department of Health and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office are now investigating the incident. 

Sheila Sanders, owner of the Lil' Blessings Child Care in Hamilton, said she was not aware of the videos until they were circulated online on October 5. "I contacted my licensure, and she has gotten involved," Sanders said, according to DailyMail. "The people that did those acts are no longer with us. They were fired. I wasn't here at the time and wasn't aware they were doing that. I don't condone that and never have. I just want to say it's been taken care of." Liz Sharlot, the director of communications at the Mississippi Department of Health, has confirmed to Monroe Journal the incident is under investigation. 

READ MORE

Mississippi grand jury DECLINES to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham in Emmett Till's lynching

Sadistic family slapped with 50 child abuse charges as cops make horrifying discovery in their home

One of the videos was reportedly filmed in September while another was recorded on October 4, the day before both were posted to Facebook. Sanders alleged that no one informed her about the incident in September. The children are seen screaming and crying while others try to run away from the mask. CeeCee has since apologized and said in a video, "It wasn't meant to harm anybody and it wasn't ill-intentioned." She also alleged the "teachers asked her to do it in an attempt to get the class to listen or clean up." "I'm not a child abuser," she added. Four former employees of the daycare are now under investigation by the state and the county sheriff's office.

Local parents immediately expressed revulsion toward the videos while supporting the daycare. Kimberly Smith, whose child is seen in one video, said she knows '100 percent' that Sanders was unaware of the situation. The mother asked people to stop villainizing others and not blame the daycare. Smith said, "Was the situation that did happen horrible? Absolutely. But should this daycare be shut down and others be villainized that are still here, absolutely not. Am I OK with what happened to the extent of what happened? Absolutely not, but I know she took care of it, and my babies are safe here."

Jennifer Kayla Newman, a daycare worker who allegedly filmed the videos, shared her response on Facebook, saying she recorded the incidents not because she thought it was funny, but because she was trying to show parents her coworkers' actions. "A couple of weeks ago some girls at the daycare bought Halloween masks to scare the kids, they did it and I never got it on video," she said. She recorded the videos as evidence of the issues she had brought up in the past without proof. When the woman found out she was going to do the same thing again, she decided to record them. "I did not video this for sh**s and giggles. It was not funny to me," she said.

CeeCee explained in her 19-minute apology video that she bought the mask to scare her co-worker. "What you all didn't see was after I had left the room, I took it off and I went back into the classroom, and I said 'CeeCee got the monster. It's not coming back.' And they would hug me. I have known those kids their whole life," She said. "They knew it was me, and they had the reaction they did cause they're children and that's it." Ashley Woods, whose son goes to the same daycare, wrote on Facebook, "There will be consequences but it’s not our place to judge anyone or even make someone feel so alone and down. Was it wrong YES. I’m not saying it’s not and she knows that’s - and is what she is trying to get thru to everyone she is truly sorry."