ST. LOUIS – FOX 2 obtained the latest information surrounding the daycare abuse video, which we first reported three years ago.
The video showed a daycare worker throwing a child across the room in 2019. After years of FOX 2 covering this story, we can now bring you more evidence because the case is being prosecuted with the former daycare worker in prison.
In a newly released 911 call from that day, you can hear a worker claim there was an accident with a 3-year-old child.
“Tell me exactly what happened,” the 911 operator said.
“Hello? I can’t hear you,” the caller said.
Someone from the former childcare center, known as Brighter Day Care and Preschool in north St. Louis County, repeats that they cannot hear before finally describing what was captured on video.
“What happened?” The 911 operator repeats with urgency.
“I was uhm, I’m her teacher.” The caller said.
“Tell me what happened,” the 911 operator said.
“Oh, I was, uhm, walking past, and I had told her to go on the carpet, and she fell out and hit her head against the floor, and it bust,” the caller said.
“These kinds of cases tug at the heartstrings,” Wesley Bell, St. Louis County prosecutor, said.
Bell’s office closed the case this year when Wilma Brown pleaded guilty to felony child abuse. A judge sentenced Brown to five years in prison this past July.
“We want to make certain that, you know, kids when they’re in daycare when they’re at a school, that they’re safe,” Bell said. “That has to be one of our priorities.”
Bell’s office credits not only his staff but also the North County Police Cooperative officers, who made sure they secured the video and did not just accept what the daycare told 911.
“They didn’t, and we didn’t,” Bell said. “We wanted to vet this and investigate this as much as possible because, in these cases, we want to make certain that our young people are protected. If they are around someone who is going to do them wrong, those individuals are going to be held accountable.”
An assistant prosecutor in court also pointed out that Brown, after realizing the 3-year-old was hurt, carried the child to a trash can to wipe up the blood with paper towels.
The incident remains under scrutiny in civil court, where there is a personal injury trial set for next year.
Brighter Day Care and Preschool was stripped of its daycare license after FOX 2’s initial investigations in 2019. A new center is open in the same spot, one that the center’s attorney said is a complete, “separate, and distinct entity.”