The investigation was prompted after parents released a video of an employee acting aggressively with children. Tuesday, ABC11 obtained a police report that shows, a warrant was obtained on July 22, for 19-year-old Brittany Hollifield for three counts of misdemeanor child abuse. She turned herself in and the warrants were served at the Wake County Detention Center, according to the document.
Last week, ABC11 received a copy of the video and spoke with parents who have or had children at the Kids 'R' Kids Learning Academy where the alleged incidents took place. Makayla McClure told us her son attended the facility for four months before she recently pulled him out.
"He hated it. Going to daycare became the biggest hassle in the world. He did not want to go. Every single morning it was a fight getting him to go into daycare. He would act up so much to get out of there that I would have to leave work non-stop for like a week," said McClure.
She shared he had a generally positive experience the first 2 1/2 months, but things eventually soured. Her mother, the boy's grandmother, told her she witnessed one incident via live stream.
Off-camera, other parents spoke with ABC11 anonymously, documenting varied incidents dating to 2020.
In two cases, parents said they saw staff via live stream act physically aggressive with children, though not their own.
In a statement shared with ABC 11 last week, owner/operator Stacie Williamson wrote:
We are in communication with the family involved and have extended our apologies and been available for any calls or meetings that they have requested. In the meantime, we are working closely with the Wake Forest Police Department, which has the case under investigation. Based on our own internal investigation, we immediately notified all parents of the incident and terminated the employee who violated our company's 'Code of Conduct.' In keeping with our longtime company mission to make sure every child in our care feels safe, loved and inspired, we are doing our part to make sure this matter never happens again and will begin this process with a mandatory retraining of all teachers and a review of 'reporting training,' which keeps all of our teachers accountable to one another.'