Blaine day care providers face criminal charges after alleged infant abuse caught on camera
Credit: MGN/U.S. Air Force
Two Blaine day care providers have been criminally charged after surveillance footage allegedly showed them roughly handling infants.
The Blaine Police Department says it opened an investigation into Small World Learning Center on Tuesday after Minneapolis Children’s Hospital flagged suspicious bruising on the thighs of a 5-month-old infant.
Day care providers interviewed by Blaine police investigators at first said the bruising could have been caused by a swing. But a review of surveillance video revealed aggressive behavior by two day care employees — 23-year-old Elizabeth Wiemerslage of Coon Rapids and 31-year-old Chloe Johnson of Blaine.
The footage showed Wiemerslage and Johnson roughly handling the injured infant and two others. According to police, Johnson is seen grabbing the first child by her upper thighs, hips and groin and “violently flips” her on her back and face while Wiemerslage is present.
Johnson is seen handling a second child, placing a cloth against their mouth and nose. She then holds the child by the neck, pulls them by the arm and shoves a bottle in and out of their mouth, police said. Wiemerslage is also shown on video slamming the second child onto a pillow. Wiemerslage is later seen thrusting a third child onto a changing table.
The child whose injuries prompted the investigation suffered bruising in nine different areas, and the injuries were found to be consistent with gripping or squeezing, a criminal complaint states.
The two other children underwent medical examinations, and one was found to have an old leg fracture which may have occurred two weeks earlier.
Johnson and Wiemerslage each face felony and misdemeanor charges of malicious punishment of a child and one count of third-degree assault of a victim under 4 years old. They were taken into custody at the Anoka County Jail and have been released on $75,000 bail.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has reached out to Small World Learning Center for comment and is awaiting a response.