Greenville day care director accused of assaulting 2-year-old with paint stirrer

GREENVILLE, NC -- A Greenville day care director has been arrested after she allegedly assaulted a 2-year-old child.

Police said Shannon Jacobs turned herself into the Pitt County Magistrate's Office on Friday afternoon after Greenville Police detectives obtained a warrant charging her with misdemeanor assault of a child under 12.

She bonded out on a $3,000 bond the same day, WCTI reports.

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The alleged incident happened on April 12 at Trinity Christian School.

Police said Jacobs notified the child's parents that she had disciplined their child by allegedly striking him with a paint stirrer.

When the parents pick their son up, they noticed injuries to his left arm and left leg.

The day care released the following statement:

"As a ministry, when an allegation is made against an employee, our organization immediately removes that individual from any contact with children pending the outcome of the criminal matter, and we fully cooperate with parents, state officials, and law enforcement. We believe that if children are safe anywhere, they should be safe at church. As a matter of policy, Trinity reports all suspicions of potential child abuse to the authorities. We carefully interview and screen our employees and volunteers, and our leadership team works to maintain child protection policies based on best practices nationally and North Carolina State law. We believe that transparency, child safety, and accountability are essential for successful ministry, and we are fully committed to ministering to our students in a safe and responsible manner. As this matter involves the staff member administering a spanking, upon the advice of legal counsel and after prayerful deliberation, the Pastor and Deacon Board have decided to immediately discontinue any corporal discipline at the school and rely on other disciplinary measures for the students. Please understand that we have asked our staff to not discuss this matter while it is pending before the courts. This is our official statement."