Justice for La’Raya
The Issue
My name is Lindsay Bullock, and I am located in Brunswick County, North Carolina. I am reaching out to you in order to get as many signatures as I can to assist me in going public with a child abuse/mistreatment incident, which involved my 19 month old baby, and hopefully getting the case reopened. This incident took place on January 9th, 2019, at Tiny Tots Child Care Center, in Shallotte, North Carolina. I have done everything I know to as a mother, and handled this situation with more dignity and respect that I ever thought possible. Now, two and a half months later, I am facing this incident being covered up and dismissed by the owners of the daycare, Michael and Shawna Williams. I am going to provide you with a link to the video following a brief overview of the incident, in addition to the events which have occurred during my two-and-a-half month journey in trying to get justice for my baby girl.
January 9, 2019, was my daughter's first day back at daycare. As a mother, I was scared for her to attend daycare due to the unfortunate incidents which occur on a daily basis. However, my baby is very active, and I felt as though she would benefit from being around other children in a structured environment. I specifically chose Tiny Tots as the daycare I would trust with my child, mainly because of the fact that they have a "Watch me Grow" system, which is a camera system which gives parents online access to view throughout the day. After I dropped my daughter off, I went home, and I logged in to the camera system around nap time. What I witnessed, was my exact fears coming true. However, it was later, when I reviewed the video multiple times, when I realized it was actually much worse than I originally thought.
In the video, you will see that it is nap time, the lights are low, and the children are in their cots. On the left side of the screen, you will see the teacher sitting in between two cots, leaned against the wall, on her phone. My daughter walked up to the teacher and attempted to hand her the blanket she sleeps with. At this time, the teacher took the blanket from my daughter and threw it across the room. Again, my baby went and got her blanket and tried bringing it back to the teacher again, when the teacher took the blanket and threw it, this time, taking her foot and kicking my 19 month old baby backwards. This occurs a total of 4 times. In the video, you can clearly see my baby go flying backwards. The teacher is wearing dark pants and dark boots, so when you zoom in and watch the video closely, you can see the actual kicks. Next, my daughter walks away and sits down on a cot. The teacher gets up and walks over to my baby, grabs her by the arm and pulls her across the room. At this point, my daughter threw herself down, and the teacher yanked her up by her arm again, and dragged her to her cot and threw her face down. After my baby fell face first, the teacher turns and walks away and gets back on her cell phone.
When I spoke with Shawna Williams, owner, about what I had witnessed on the video, she told me that, "It would not have happened if she had been in here bed like she was supposed to be". She completely dismissed my concerns. I understand it was nap time, but this is a 19 month old baby, her first day at daycare. Apparently she just wanted attention, why couldn't the teacher have taken the blanket and held her or taken her to her cot? Why did she have to treat my baby this way? Needless to say, my child has not been back to that daycare, or any other daycare for that matter.
On January 10, 2019, charges were filed on Angelic Sibbett, the teacher who did this to my daughter. A magistrate viewed the video and found probable cause to charge Ms. Sibbett with Misdemeanor Child Abuse.
After being unable to get a response from the district attorney other than they were "waiting on a second opinion", I did the only other thing I knew to do. I spoke with a friend who is a journalist and CEO of The North Carolina Beat, and we released the video. The day after the video was released, Shawna Williams, the owner of this facility, began contacting parents warning them to refrain from posting comments on the video or on facebook or she would sue them for slander. Coincidentally, 14 hours after this video went public, the district attorney called to inform me the charges were dismissed.
Please help me get my story out. My baby deserves justice. Parents deserve to be able to trust a daycare facility with their child and not have to experience the pain and turmoil I have experienced since January 9th. Below is a link of the video. Thank you all for your support.
Petition Closed
The Issue
My name is Lindsay Bullock, and I am located in Brunswick County, North Carolina. I am reaching out to you in order to get as many signatures as I can to assist me in going public with a child abuse/mistreatment incident, which involved my 19 month old baby, and hopefully getting the case reopened. This incident took place on January 9th, 2019, at Tiny Tots Child Care Center, in Shallotte, North Carolina. I have done everything I know to as a mother, and handled this situation with more dignity and respect that I ever thought possible. Now, two and a half months later, I am facing this incident being covered up and dismissed by the owners of the daycare, Michael and Shawna Williams. I am going to provide you with a link to the video following a brief overview of the incident, in addition to the events which have occurred during my two-and-a-half month journey in trying to get justice for my baby girl.
January 9, 2019, was my daughter's first day back at daycare. As a mother, I was scared for her to attend daycare due to the unfortunate incidents which occur on a daily basis. However, my baby is very active, and I felt as though she would benefit from being around other children in a structured environment. I specifically chose Tiny Tots as the daycare I would trust with my child, mainly because of the fact that they have a "Watch me Grow" system, which is a camera system which gives parents online access to view throughout the day. After I dropped my daughter off, I went home, and I logged in to the camera system around nap time. What I witnessed, was my exact fears coming true. However, it was later, when I reviewed the video multiple times, when I realized it was actually much worse than I originally thought.
In the video, you will see that it is nap time, the lights are low, and the children are in their cots. On the left side of the screen, you will see the teacher sitting in between two cots, leaned against the wall, on her phone. My daughter walked up to the teacher and attempted to hand her the blanket she sleeps with. At this time, the teacher took the blanket from my daughter and threw it across the room. Again, my baby went and got her blanket and tried bringing it back to the teacher again, when the teacher took the blanket and threw it, this time, taking her foot and kicking my 19 month old baby backwards. This occurs a total of 4 times. In the video, you can clearly see my baby go flying backwards. The teacher is wearing dark pants and dark boots, so when you zoom in and watch the video closely, you can see the actual kicks. Next, my daughter walks away and sits down on a cot. The teacher gets up and walks over to my baby, grabs her by the arm and pulls her across the room. At this point, my daughter threw herself down, and the teacher yanked her up by her arm again, and dragged her to her cot and threw her face down. After my baby fell face first, the teacher turns and walks away and gets back on her cell phone.
When I spoke with Shawna Williams, owner, about what I had witnessed on the video, she told me that, "It would not have happened if she had been in here bed like she was supposed to be". She completely dismissed my concerns. I understand it was nap time, but this is a 19 month old baby, her first day at daycare. Apparently she just wanted attention, why couldn't the teacher have taken the blanket and held her or taken her to her cot? Why did she have to treat my baby this way? Needless to say, my child has not been back to that daycare, or any other daycare for that matter.
On January 10, 2019, charges were filed on Angelic Sibbett, the teacher who did this to my daughter. A magistrate viewed the video and found probable cause to charge Ms. Sibbett with Misdemeanor Child Abuse.
After being unable to get a response from the district attorney other than they were "waiting on a second opinion", I did the only other thing I knew to do. I spoke with a friend who is a journalist and CEO of The North Carolina Beat, and we released the video. The day after the video was released, Shawna Williams, the owner of this facility, began contacting parents warning them to refrain from posting comments on the video or on facebook or she would sue them for slander. Coincidentally, 14 hours after this video went public, the district attorney called to inform me the charges were dismissed.
Please help me get my story out. My baby deserves justice. Parents deserve to be able to trust a daycare facility with their child and not have to experience the pain and turmoil I have experienced since January 9th. Below is a link of the video. Thank you all for your support.
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Petition created on March 28, 2019