A Florida daycare worker is facing a dozen charges after police say surveillance footage showed her hitting multiple toddlers, including two children allegedly struck in the head with a metal stapler.
Latasha Mullings, 41, is charged with 11 counts of battery and one count of assault, according to Brevard County court records.
The disturbing case unfolded at Mustard Seed Kids in West Melbourne after the daycare director called police on May 27 and reported that a teacher had allegedly struck several students.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the allegations first came to light after a parent said Mullings had flicked their child in the face.
That report led the daycare director, Kaitlin Fletcher, to review seven days of classroom surveillance footage from May 19 through May 26.
What she allegedly found was alarming.
Police said the footage showed Mullings striking five different children between the ages of 2 and 4 on 11 separate occasions.
Two of the toddlers were allegedly hit in the head with a metal stapler, according to the affidavit.
Mullings also allegedly threw her shoe at one child but missed.
In another alleged incident, a student was slapped in the face three times. Another child was allegedly struck in the head with a bucket and hit across the face with a stuffed animal.
A separate student was allegedly hit in the hand with a shoe, according to the affidavit.
The children involved were all between 2 and 4 years old.
When Fletcher confronted Mullings on May 26, the daycare worker allegedly said, “My babies are gonna miss me,” according to the affidavit.
She was then fired.
The director contacted police the following day, and Mullings was later charged.
Court records show Mullings had been scheduled to appear in court on May 29, but that hearing was canceled. She posted bond before the hearing.
It is not clear when she is expected back in court. It is also unclear whether she has entered a plea or retained an attorney who can speak on her behalf.
The allegations have left parents horrified and raised serious questions about what was happening inside the classroom before the footage was reviewed.
For families who trusted the daycare with their toddlers, the case is especially disturbing because the alleged victims were too young to fully explain what may have happened to them.
Mullings now faces multiple criminal charges as the case moves forward in Brevard County.
