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Police: Wisconsin Daycare Worker Broke Baby’s Leg

By Chelsea Hoffman
Published on: 16:13 PST, Sep 20, 2016

A Wisconsin daycare worker has been arrested after police say she broke a 14-month-old baby’s leg at her former place of employment. WDAY News reports that 26-year-old Ashley M. Garrity was employed by Bear Buddies Educational Resources, where she was reportedly captured on video acting abusively to more than just one child.

Police say that the incident took place earlier this year when the parents of a 14-month-old child reported that their child had a broken leg that could not be explained. The mother of the alleged victim told police, and DCF officials, that the boy suffered from the injuries while at Bear Buddies daycare center in the town of Baldwin, but did not know how it happened. At the time, they only knew that their son was unable to stand on the leg, and had to be hospitalized that day. An investigation was quickly opened.

After reviewing surveillance footage from the day the child became injured, state officials have expressed concern about how children were being treated at the daycare center. The video reportedly shows the child walking fine, up until a female worker — identified as Ashley Garrity — sat him down on the floor. Authorities believe that it was during this time that the child may have become injured. Upon being interviewed, the Wisconsin woman denied handling the child, and other children, in a rough manner. She did, however, admit that she noticed something was wrong with the 14-month-old baby.

At least one other worker at the daycare facility told police that they believed that Garrity handled the children roughly, but they didn’t believe she was being negligent in her actions. Upon reviewing the video, police are alleging that the Wisconsin woman displayed concerning behavior toward the children multiple times throughout the day. The video reportedly shows her pushing a child off of a basket, causing the child to fall to the floor. She can also be seen in the video pushing another child down onto her rear-end, causing her to cry. The video shows her forcefully handling an infant multiple times, at one point bashing the girl’s chin on her knee.

One important part of the video shows Ashley Garrity swinging the 14-month-old victim into a room, where he reportedly landed on his right leg — the leg that was later discovered to be broken. Authorities in Baldwin believe that it was this incident that caused the bone fracture.

This isn’t the first time a daycare worker has been accused of crimes against children. Earlier this year, an Ohio woman was arrested after an 11-month-old infant suffered from numerous injuries while in her care. Police say that 19-year-old Sarah Roberts is responsible for fracturing the little girl’s skull, as well as inflicting various injuries to her person during an incident in August. While she claimed the little girl had fallen, police believe the injuries she sustained were more consistent with an abusive episode. That is why she was charged with felony child endangering.

In this latest case out of Wisconsin, daycare worker Ashley M. Garrity has been charged with a single count of felony physical child abuse. If she is convicted, she could find herself behind bars. These allegations against her could also ultimately affect her ability to work with children again in the future, especially since she has been fired from Bear Buddies in association with the February incident.

[Featured Image by Baldwin Police Dept.]

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