A judge has been bombarded with threats after she granted bail to a Georgia daycare worker accused of battering a one-year-old boy.
Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Rose-Emmons released accused child abuser Yvette Thurston on a $44,000 bond on August 16, according to WCTV.
Thurston, age 54, from Bainbridge, faces charges for allegedly causing a black eye and deep scratches on the face and neck of one-year-old Clay Weeks after his initial day at school.
District Attorney Joe Mulholland released a statement a few days after Thurston was released on bail condemning the threats sent to Rose-Emmons.
Mulholland said his office would prosecute anyone who sent menaces to the judge, saying it would ‘not tolerate threats against our judges’.
‘The rule of law is the foundation of our community,’ the district attorney wrote.
‘Judges have the right to carry out their responsibilities without fearing for their personal safety. Regardless of whether you agree with their rulings, threatening them or their loved ones is not permissible.’
Thurston has been charged with first-degree aggravated battery and three counts of first-degree child abuse.
A magistrate judge has received numerous threats following her decision to grant bail to a Georgia daycare worker accused of assaulting the young child, Clay Weeks (shown above).
‘This is the ultimate nightmare for any parent, and we were forced to endure it. In fact, we continue to endure it,’ posted Clay’s father, Cory Weeks, on Facebook after discovering the supposed maltreatment.
Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Rose-Emmons (pictured) released accused child abuser Yvette Thurston on a $44,000 bond on August 16, sparking outrage
Cory Weeks, Clay’s father, reported that the abuse allegedly took place at Little Blessings Child Care in Bainbridge, southwest Georgia, right after his son’s first day there.
‘This is every parent’s worst nightmare and WE had to live it and are still living it,’ Weeks wrote in a Facebook post.
‘We were told another child in Clay’s class did this type of damage with a plastic toy,’ he added.
It wasn’t until the suspicious father watched surveillance footage that they found out what really happened to his son.
‘Nothing we saw was for the faint-hearted, especially happening to such an innocent soul,’ Weeks wrote.
Thurston was arrested on August 11, and the church daycare center was temporarily closed.
Yvette Thurston, of Bainbridge, was arrested on August 11 on child abuse and other charges
Thurston, 54, from Bainbridge, has been charged with harming one-year-old Clay Weeks, leaving him with a black eye and significant scratches on his face and neck after the child’s first school day in southern Georgia.
The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning is investigating the case and said Thurston has been terminated from her position. The school was placed under an emergency closure and will be closed for 21 days
Clay, whose three-year-old brother Wyatt also goes to the daycare, was rushed to the hospital to be treated for his injuries.
‘Clay received the best care while we were there,’ the father wrote.
The parents speculated that this isn’t the first time Thurston has done this to a student, due to the ‘severity’ of the ‘acts of violence’ against the young boy.
Weeks has been warning other parents to not be complacent when told how their child may have been injured while at school or in daycare.
‘Don’t ever feel like you can’t question how an injury happened to your child because I almost didn’t,’ he wrote.
‘Also, don’t believe the ‘happy pictures’ sent to you parents because we had that done as well during a day of complete torture of our Clay.’
The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning is investigating the case and said Thurston has been terminated from her position.
