CALLAHAN, Fla. — A former daycare employee who worked at Early Impressions at Midtown Preschool in Yulee was arrested on child abuse charges Thursday, according to the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office.

NCSO says surveillance footage, which they released publicly in full, appears to show Kimberly McNatt, 31, forcefully handle multiple toddlers.

The investigation stemmed from a complaint made by a mother on August 29. The mother reported the daycare had contacted her the previous day to report her 1-year-old had injured their lip during nap time, and the lip was “visibly busted open” and “had bled onto the mattress.”

According to NCSO, the mother also told the police the toddler had previously come home with bruises on their head and back. She became more concerned after she found out McNatt had been fired from the daycare.

Investigators then found the surveillance video from inside the classroom which showed a woman identified by police as McNatt aggressively handling the victim and another child; it also shows the woman covering the child entirely with a blanket, forcibly pushing another child’s head to the ground, and yanking another child’s legs.

Police found surveillance video of August 28, the day before the mother’s complaint, according to McNatt’s arrest report. The report said the video shows she was seen forcibly pushing the child’s face into the cot, to the point it moved the cot; then she wipes the child’s face repeatedly. The arrest report also said there was a visible stain on the mattress.

McNatt’s arrest report says the owner of the daycare provided her name to police and was unable to provide her middle name or other information.

McNatt was booked into the Nassau County Jail & Detention Center, but she has now been released on bond.

Karen Boney, owner of Early Impressions, said her team was “extremely shocked” when they learned of the allegations against McNatt.

“Kimberly was a very loving, nurturing person,” Boney said. “We don’t know what happened, but this was completely out of her character.”

Boney, whose business has served Yulee and the island community for 18 years, said red flags were raised after multiple incident reports in the same classroom during nap time.

“That sparked our interest, so the staff immediately pulled up the video surveillance to see what was going on,” she said.

As soon as staff saw the footage, Boney says McNatt was fired and law enforcement and child protective services were notified.

“They commended my staff for handling it perfectly,” she said. “There’s a lot of things we could’ve done. We could’ve hidden it, but we’re not going to do that. Our children are our number one priority. They love those kids like their own, and it was very saddening what happened. Watching it breaks our heart.”

Boney said parents were notified right away and that the daycare is committed to transparency.

“We want to be transparent, completely,” Boney said. “It was a very rare incident. We’ve never had anything like that happen in 19 years.”

The owner says vigilance remains top priority.

“We are being very vigilant,” she said. “I’ve got an employee watching cameras and, when I’m in there, that’s all I’m doing, sitting and watching cameras.”

Boney said all legally required notifications have been made and pledged to “move forward with the trust of the families we serve.”