A kindergarten teacher faces serious child abuse charges after a video was found of him beating and yelling at one of his 4-year-old students, police say. says.
Ashley Richards, 32, was arrested Wednesday and charged with one count of third-degree child abuse, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
A student's cries for help could be heard from the playground at Kindercare Her Learning Her Center in Dunedin, Florida, where Richards has been a teacher since March 2021.
One witness heard something shocking. Abuse in videos not shared by police.
"Witnesses observed Richards yelling at the victim and repeatedly hitting the child on the back and side of the head with both open and closed fists," said the sheriff.
"Richards was also observed pushing a child to the ground and shouting, 'Do you want me to hit you?'"
See video. A representative for told the Tampa Bay Times.As she continued to beat him, Richards pulled a child, an unnamed boy, back at her by the leg.
The child was He told police he got into trouble for fighting with his brother, and Richards was punishing him.
Richards denied her abuse, but said he put her hand over her child's mouth because he was laughing at her. He said he was.
Her Colleen Moran, public relations manager for KinderCare Learning Companies, said in a statement that Richards had taken a leave of absence following the incident.
"The teachers' alleged behavior does not reflect who we are or the training we provide them. We are working with the police to find out what
Richards was held in the county jail but was later released on $5,000 bail.
Please contact the news team by sending an email to [email protected]
See the news page for articles like this.
