Two daycare workers at the Cedar Early Learning Center in Cleveland, Ohio, have been terminated after being caught on camera doing the unthinkable to children left in their care. After entrusting the care of her 2-year-old son to the learning center for the majority of his life, she was completely outraged to learn that they’d been abusing him . Now, she’s seeking justice for the mistreatment of her child.
https://t.co/89eUCMiGaS A Cleveland daycare worker is charged with hitting and throwing a toddler. Via @RyllieDanylko @clevelanddotcom
— Patrick Cooley (@NEOhioCrimeNews) October 19, 2015
According to Fox 8 Live, Ryane Lamb has been sending her son to the learning center since he was 3-months-old. She’s reportedly had no issues with the facility or the daycare workers – until now. To her shock and dismay, shocking surveillance footage has been released and her son is reportedly one of the two children that were abused by daycare workers.
The disturbing surveillance footage of the incident, which occurred on Wednesday, October 14, begins with 2-year-old Amari Lamb walking toward a 49-year-old daycare worker identified as Melissa Tate. At first, the scene looks relatively normal, but things take an abrupt turn for the worse when she strikes him. She can be seen grabbing the little boy and striking him with what appears to be a plastic back-scratcher.
Arrest Warrants Filed After Daycare Worker Hit 2-Year-Old 22 Times https://t.co/YLd7BOP7wX by @MagnifiTrent
— Breitbart.TV (@BreitbartVideo) October 19, 2015
As Amari wails in agony and attempts to escape, his efforts are futile because the daycare worker tightens her grip on him. Based on the incriminating footage, the toddler is hit a total of 22 times. Then, the daycare worker can be seen shoving Amari to the ground where she beat him again. However, that’s not all because the beating didn’t stop there. Approximately 10 minutes after the first encounter, the same daycare worker appears again. Tate can be seen striking the toddler 11 more times before dragging him across the floor and throwing him into a changing table.
Warning: Video contains content that may be offensive to some viewers.
Although Tate was reportedly the only daycare worker seen striking Amari, another employee is also being held accountable for the incident. The second employee, identified as Tonya Walker , was also seen on surveillance, reports Cleveland . Walker is said to have witnessed the abuse Amari suffered, but failed to intervene on his behalf. She reportedly looked on the entire time. However, she didn’t stop there. Later in the day, the surveillance cameras pick up an incident involving Walker and an 18-month-old girl. Walker was caught striking the little girl with a plastic baseball bat.
After Amari was picked up her son up from the daycare that day, his mother noticed he had a number of bruises and welts on his legs that raised concerns. On Wednesday night, he was rushed to a local hospital by his mother and grandmother. Shortly after, his mother contacted local authorities to file a report. Almost immediately after the report was filed, the Cleveland’s Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit began investigating the incident. 
On Friday, October 16, investigators visited the Cedar Early Learning Center and retrieved surveillance footage. A number of items were confiscated including computer hard drives with surveillance footage and a plastic bat similar to the one Walker used in the footage.
During a recent news interview, Amari’s mother Ryane shared her reaction to the disheartening incident. Needless to say, she’s still quite shocking since her son had been attending the facility for so long. “I could not believe. Just looking at that, that this place even had the audacity to do that to my baby for no reason, he didn’t deserve it at all,” Ryane said.
Octavia Manuel, the learning center’s administrator recently revealed she’d actually reviewed the footage on Thursday morning, just one day after the incident occurred. She also confirmed that both of the daycare workers were immediately terminated. Tate and Walker are now facing child endangerment charges for their harsh mistreatment toward the children. Walker reportedly requested to speak with Amari’s mother to explain her actions, but the request was denied.
[Image via Ryane Lamb ; YouTube Screen Capture]
