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According to the police, the employee was holding a child’s head down on a cot, picked the child up and forcefully placed him back down.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville day care worker is facing charges of abuse after police say she was caught on video physically assaulting two children at the center.
Sandrine Mangalindan, 23, has been arrested and charged with child abuse, a third degree felony.
The owner of Rare Jewels Child Care Center on Jacksonville’s Northside says when she arrived to work, another employee notified her of the abuse.
The owner reviewed the video and immediately called police and the Florida Department of Children and Families after watching.
“Her just being really rough with the children, inappropriately rough with the children and spanking one on the bottom,” the owner of Rare Jewels Child Care Center, said.
According to the police, video shows Mangalindan holding a child’s head down on a cot during nap time. She also picked the child up and forcefully placed him back down on the cot, hard enough to make the cot bounce, according to police.
The report goes on to say for the next 45 minutes, Mangalindan continued forcing the child’s head down each time he lifted it up, and at one point yanked the child’s leg and pulled his body back onto the cot.
Eventually, another teacher had to step in and rock the crying child to sleep, according to the report.
Mangalindan told police she was trying to get the child to nap, and that “she is not allowed to “baby” the children at the facility”. She went on to explain that she would not physically hit a child at the facility, and that her own child attends the center, the report says.
Police say there were no external signs of injury on the child, but police determined the actions “could reasonably be expected to result in physical and or mental injury”.
The owner, who is withholding her identity at this time, says she treats each child at the center like her own and does not condone any violence. The cameras in the facility, she says, are not only for parent’s peace of mind, but so she can keep an eye on things any time of day.
“When I’m not in the facility I watch the camera on my phone, so I’m going to make sure my kids are fine,” the owner said.
The owner says she has notified all parents of the facility and is committed to creating a safe environment.
Mangalindan’s next court date is scheduled for July 20. She is currently out of jail on bond.
First Coast News reached out to Mangalindan and have not heard back.
