Mississippi Coast daycare had state violations before felony abuse arrest, reports show
Jessica “Camay” Brown thought she had doneeverything she could to make sure she placed her 3-year-old special-needs child was in a safe environment.
Or at least she thought she had.
“Just imagine, if you had a child, a toddler, and he could not speak, he could not tell you, ‘Mom, they’re abusing me,’” Brown said.
Her son, Dekari, 3, is autistic and unable to speak, according to medical records the mother provided the Sun Herald.
As a result, she said, Dekari did not know how to tell her, “This person hit me, and they did this, and I don’t want to go back there anymore.”
Instead, Brown said she found out from a video recorded by a “brave” employee that another worker at Faithfully Yours Learning Center Inc. in Gautier had hit, kicked and restrained her son.The worker accused of abusing Dekari, Kierra Nicole Shavers, has been arrested.
“I knew he didn’t want to go to daycare, but I didn’t know why,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking.”
Representatives of the daycare said they reported to the state what had happened as soon as they found out, but records show the child care center has failed two inspections and had complaints, some self-reported, against it by two parents. Parents can check the records of daycare centers here.
Her attorney, Michael Crosby, said that, unfortunately, you can’t rely on what a staff member may tell you when you call to check in on your child, just as Brown did.
“You bring your children, your parents, to a facility, and you worry about it, but then they present themselves well, and you leave them there,” Crosby said. “You call, and you check, and they tell you . . . that they’re great, and it makes you think that they are really responding to your questions and checking in, but they’ve just given you lip service.”
Daycare owner speaks
Sarah York, who owns the business along with Anthony York, said she immediately self-reported the incident to Gautier police, the Mississippi State Department of Health, and the state office of Child Protection Services.
York initially said she learned of the alleged crime from an employee “five minutes before the mother did.”
After the Sun Herald questioned why Brown had indicated she had received the video footage before that, York corrected herself, saying, “Everything literally happened within seconds of each other.”
Once she found out about the allegations, York said, Shavers was “effectively let go.”
“I just want to make it clear that Faithfully Yours Learning Center absolutely does not stand with any type of child abuse,” York said. “We are 100 percent with the mother in regards to this entire event. This is an absolutely disgusting thing that happened. We did everything we could to make sure this type of event does not occur at any childcare facility. It is very disheartening.”
Prior complaints
The Sun Herald researched and found that the center had failed inspections in the past, once for having one too many children in a classroom and again for failing to conduct monthly fire drills.
In addition, two parents had filed complaints against the daycare.
In a 2021 case, the Mississippi Department of Health fined the daycare. The state agency found, based on staff interviews and a review of records, that the daycare had failed to maintain the required staff-to-child ratio in a classroom. The disparity came to the state’s attention because two toddlers, both a year old, walked out of their class, down the hall and out into the parking lot.
They were outside for about three minutes before two people passing by noticed, stopped, and brought them to safety.
“Staff was unaware of the children being outside,” the report said. York said she self-reported that incident and any other “valid” complaints.
According to the state regulations, “a child shall not be left unattended at any time.”
The report said, “Video monitors cannot be used as a substitute for the physical presence of a caregiver in the room.”
A daycare director, identified as Kenyetta Johnson, said she suspended both teachers, according to the report. But, after watching a video of the incident, Johnson said she allowed one of the teachers to return to work.
The state fined the Gautier daycare $1,000 for that violation, and the center worked with the state to correct any other violations.
In another complaint, this one in May 2019, the state agency noted in a report that video evidence would show the daycare kept infants and toddlers in high chairs throughout the day “even when they are not eating or having snacks.”
State regulations say that children, including toddlers, should be placed in high chairs only to be fed and otherwise allowed to“creep, crawl, toddle, and walk away as they are physically able” in the classroom.
The report said that during an on-site visit, the state issued a $25 fine for finding one of the children “sleeping in a high chair covered by a blanket. “ The daycare took immediate corrective action.
The daycare had also been cited in the past for not doing monthly fire drills as needed and not having a certified food manager. The owners worked with the MSDH to correct the violations.
“We watch our cameras vigilantly,” York said.
As for the incident resulting in the child abuse arrest, York said, “This is an isolated incident as far as we know.”
This story was originally published October 25, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
