Five day care workers in Mississippi have been charged with child abuse, after a viral video depicted one of the workers scaring small children with an ominous-looking mask.
The incident took place at Lil' Blessings Child Care and Learning Center in Hamilton, Mississippi, and included an undated video of the masked day-care worker scaring the children.
According to reports, the scary mask was apparently mimicking the "Scream" film franchise.
"Are you being bad? Do I need to take you outside?" the masked worker could be heard yelling at the children.
Later on, the video seemingly shows the same woman in the mask bending down and then shrieking into a crying child's face.
"We are supposed to be cleaning up, monster," said the woman filming the video.
Shortly after that, a boy can be seen running away while the masked woman chased after him and screamed — just inches from the child's face.
According to the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, the offenders named in the case are Sierra McCandless, Oci-Anna Kilburn, Jennifer Newman, Shyenne Shelton, and Traci Hutson.
McCandless, Kilburn, Newman and Shelton reportedly each face three counts of felony child abuse for their role in the incident; Hutson incurred two charges of failure to report abuse and simple assault against a minor.
Both charges are misdemeanors.
"On Monday, Oct. 17 2022, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office [MCSO], the County Prosecuting Attorney, and the District Attorney met with the parents of the children involved in the incident at Lil' Blessings Child Care and Learning Center and informed them of the possible criminal charges the law would allow them to pursue," said Monroe County Sheriff Kevin Crook in a statement regarding the incident.
"Parents were also given an opportunity to share information they had gathered with MCSO Investigators," the statement added.
On Thursday, a judge issued warrants against the five day-care workers, after multiple parents signed felony child abuse affidavits in Monroe County Justice Court the previous day.
Alyssa Hayes, the mother of a young girl at the day care center, told ABC News, "I want [the five workers] to see the terror on her face because that is what I see every night."
"I was in complete shock of what I witnessed," Katelyn Johnson told ABC News.
Johnson, the mother of a child who attends Lil' Blessings, then said: "Whether [the workers] had a mask on or a mask off, their behavior was unacceptable. My blood pressure was raised. It broke my heart for my child. I was angry."
"I hope you're enjoying jail and I hope you realize what you have done is serious," Johnson continued. "It is not a joke, and it is nothing to laugh at."
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