Two staffers at a Blaine day care have been charged with felonies in connection with being caught on video last week violently flipping and slamming three babies.
Chloe Kaye Johnson, 24, of Andover and Elizabeth Augusta Wiemerslage, 22, of Coon Rapids were each charged Friday in Anoka County District Court with two felonies — malicious punishment of a child and third-degree assault — and two gross-misdemeanor counts of malicious punishment of a child.
The women worked at Small World Learning Center, one of eight under the same ownership in various Twin Cities suburbs, according to the business’ website.
Small World’s owner, Anil Jain, told the Star Tribune in an email Monday that Johnson and Wiemerslage were fired as soon as the allegations were made. In the meantime, Jain added, “we are remaining open to continue supporting our families who rely on us for care and stability during this difficult time.”
He said his company is cooperating with police and working with the state Department of Human Services (DHS), which licenses day cares, “to locate any weaknesses in our policies and procedures to ensure this does not happen again.”
In a statement Sunday, Blaine police Capt. Mark Boerboom called these allegations “exceptionally shocking” when compared to other child abuse cases his department has investigated over the years.
“Most parents drop their children off at day care centers believing that their child will be safe, especially since there is usually more than one care provider watching their child at any one given time,” the captain’s statement read. “In this case, we found two workers working together with infants, both aggressively abusing children.”
Sarah Berg, a DHS spokeswoman, said her agency has a maltreatment investigation underway involving Small World, but she declined to confirm whether it involves this case. In the meantime, Berg said, the day care’s license remains active.
