YULEE, Fla. – The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office recently announced the arrest of a 31-year-old woman from Callahan who faces child abuse charges after surveillance video captured her “aggressively” handling multiple kids at a daycare in Yulee.
According to the agency, an investigation revealed that Kimberly McNatt, 31, would fully cover some of the children under her care with blankets, would forcibly push kids’ heads into the ground, and was also seen yanking another child’s legs.
The investigation began on Aug. 29 when the sheriff’s office received a call from the mother of one of the children left under McNatt’s care, NCSO said. The mom claimed that her child had injured their lip on the side of a bed during nap time.
NCSO said the toddler’s lip was visibly busted open.
Investigators said they also learned that earlier in August, the same mother said her 1-year-old had returned home multiple times with bruises on their back and head.
NCSO said the mother didn’t suspect her children were being abused until she learned that McNatt had been fired from the Yulee daycare.
“Children are our most vulnerable population, and I will do everything in my power to protect them from this kind of heinous abuse,” Sheriff Bill Leeper said. “I want to thank our investigators who worked swiftly to put this suspect behind bars and away from children.”
McNatt was booked into the Nassau County jail and faces charges of child abuse without great bodily harm.
News4JAX contacted the daycare for comment, but no one answered the phone.
Arrest reports reveal that on Thursday, investigators tracked McNatt to an apartment. After she was shown the surveillance footage, deputies say she made spontaneous admissions before she was arrested.