Ex-Mississippi day care workers face child abuse charges for scaring kids with Halloween mask

Four former employees at a Mississippi day care were charged with child abuse for frightening children with a Halloween mask, according to authorities. 

Video footage of the ill-advised prank went viral earlier this month, showing one of the ex-employees wearing a Ghostface mask from the movie, “Scream” while entering a room full of toddlers at Lil’ Blessings Child Care and Learning Center in Hamilton, Miss. One of the employees with the mask can be heard yelling to scare the children if they didn’t clean up or “act good.” Throughout the video, children are heard screaming and crying in distress.

In one of the video segments, an adult can be heard saying, “Are you being bad? Do I need to take you outside?” 

The Monroe County (Miss.) Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that prosecuting attorneys met with parents to help them determine their rights in charging the four individuals with child abuse.  

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Five employees were fired for the incident, with four charged with three counts of felony child abuse. The other employee lost her job for failure to report abuse and simple assault as a mandatory reporter, according to the sheriff’s office. All four were in custody Thursday. 

“As a dad and as someone who has great compassion for those who can’t defend themselves, I admit it was very hard to watch these videos,” Sheriff Kevin Crook wrote on the department’s Facebook account. “My initial reaction was the same as most anyone else I would think…’they deserve to be charged.’ It made me sick at my stomach to think of the terror those kids were enduring.”