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Nicole Cabrera (Toombs County Sheriff’s Office) and Step by Step Childcare & Learning Center (WJCL screenshot)
A 21-year-old day care worker in Georgia is facing multiple felonies after she was allegedly caught on surveillance footage physically abusing young children in her care, slamming multiple infants and leaving them visibly injured. Nicole Cabrera was taken into custody last week and charged with nine felony counts of first-degree cruelty to children, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Cabrera, who is also facing one misdemeanor count of battery, was employed at a facility called Step by Step Childcare & Learning Center in Lyons, Georgia, which is about 185 miles southeast of Atlanta.
According to a report from Savannah, Georgia, ABC affiliate WJCL, a parent filed a complaint with the facility in late November, when a mother noticed that her infant daughter had visible bruising that had not been there before she left for day care.
“I noticed she had injuries to the left side of her ear and the back of her head,” the mother, identified as Briana Lopez, told the station. “That was not — you know, she went to daycare fine, that was not normal.”
Lopez said she went to the facility and spoke to several members of the staff before demanding to see surveillance footage of her daughter. What she saw on the footage was appalling, per the report.
“I saw how she slammed my child over and over,” Lopez said, referring to Cabrera.
Despite Step by Step telling Lopez that Cabrera had already been fired, Lopez reportedly brought her concerns to the Lyons Police Department, which eventually led to Cabrera’s arrest. In a copy of the probable cause affidavit obtained by Savannah NBC affiliate WTOC, an officer who watched the footage of Cabrera handling Lopez’s daughter said Cabrera aggressively grabbed the infant and slammed her into a small child’s swing causing the infant’s head to strike the top of the seat.
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Another mother, Samantha Adams, told WJCL that she was contacted by authorities who informed her that a review of Step by Step’s surveillance footage revealed that her infant son had been one of Cabrera’s alleged victims. Adams told the station that her son was abused as many as four times in one day, describing the footage in graphic detail.
“She just picks him up, slams him back down and then he tries to roll over again, crying as hard as he can, and then she picks him up again and flips him like this and slams him back down again,” Adams said.
In an interview with Southeast Georgia Today, Lyons Chief of Police Wesley Walker said that authorities have identified nine victims who were allegedly abused by Cabrera, all of whom are infants.
Walker reportedly said that the parents did the right thing by bringing their concerns to his department. He also said that the day care “acted swiftly and diligently in addressing the allegations against Cabrera.”
“They have been very cooperative and have assisted us in every way possible as we’ve been investigating,” he added.
Cabrera was booked into the Toombs County Detention Center and later released after posting a bond of $25,000.
Step by Step did not immediately return Law&Crime’s request for comment.
