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Background: Surveillance footage from the Young Mindz Learning Academy provided to WSB (WSB). Inset: Virgil Beasley and his mother Sharece Beasley (provided by family).
A Georgia mom is suing the day care facility that was responsible for watching her then-9-month-old son after she claimed one worker left her baby in scalding hot water for an extended period.
Sharece Beasley told ABC affiliate WSB that in 2022, she left her son, Virgil, then just an infant, in the care of Young Mindz Learning Academy in Decatur, Georgia. WSB obtained surveillance video from the day in question that shows an unnamed employee aggressively putting Virgil on a changing table and removing his clothes. Moments later, she placed him in a sink that was allegedly filled with scalding hot water for several minutes. According to reporting by WSB, she allegedly did not realize Virgil was burned until after she removed him and then left the baby as she walked around the facility for 15 minutes.
The employees at the facility were not permitted to bathe the children they cared for, according to the lawsuit. Michael Neff, the attorney representing Beasley, told WSB that the employees were only allowed to use “wet wipes” to clean children. The lawsuit accused the employee of ignoring that policy.
Beasley said that her baby boy went through a monthslong recovery that was painful for both Virgil and for her, telling WSB that “it hurt him to urinate.” She added, “I had to watch them pop his blisters. That was painful to watch him go through. No amount of pain medicine could help him.”
This wasn’t the only policy that the facility allegedly violated. According to the lawsuit, children were supposed to be separated by age group. In part of the video, a young child was seen watching over Virgil while the adult employee was in another location.
Neff called the incident “a multi-level fail” by the facility.
WSB reported that the employee was arrested and charged with cruelty to children. She was later sentenced to probation.
Law&Crime reached out to both Neff and Young Mindz Learning Academy but did not receive an immediate response. The owner of the facility told WSB that it was aware of the incident but had no comment. WSB reported that recent state inspection reports noted changes made by the facility to correct some of the issues related to the 2022 incident and that it’s currently in good standing.
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