The incident happened at the Lil’ Blessings Child Care and Learning Center in Hamilton, Mississippi.

In a video of what went down, a day care worker is shown wearing a mask and frightening little children. The kids are screaming and crying and some appear traumatized by the ordeal.

“Are you being bad? Do I need to take you outside?” yelled one of the workers. The child being accosted then tried to bury their face in their arms as the worker continued to yell.

Later, the day care worker is shown bent down and screaming in a crying child’s face. The child is seen shaking while the worker is yelling.

 

“We are supposed to be cleaning up, monster,” a day care worker who was filming the events said at one point. The camera person also prompted the masked worker to continue terrorizing the horrified children.

The children’s escalating fear did not stop the workers. One student did so much as to run away from the masked worker. But the caregiver continued to scare the child, chasing after them and shouting.

 

When officials caught wind of what happened at the center, they decided to investigate the incident further.

“On Monday, October 17, 2022, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, the County Prosecuting Attorney, and the District Attorney met with the parents of the children involved in the incident at Lil’ Blessings Child Care and Learning Center and informed them of the possible criminal charges the law would allow them to pursue,” Monroe County Sheriff Kevin Crook said in a statement. “Parents were also given an opportunity to share information they had gathered with MCSO Investigators.”

Felony child abuse affidavits were signed by at least one child’s parents in Monroe County Justice Court on Wednesday, which prompted a judge to issue warrants on charges filed against five of the day care workers by several parents on Thursday.

“I was in complete shock of what I witnessed,” Katelyn Johnson, a parent of one of the children, shared with ABC News. “Whether they had a mask on or a mask off, their behavior was unacceptable. My blood pressure was raised. It broke my heart for my child. I was angry.”

Alyssa Hayes, another parent, said she wants the workers to be just as terrified as the children were during the incident.

“I want them to see the terror on her face because that is what I see every night,” she said, ABC News reports.

Monroe County Sheriff’s Office has named the following day care workers in the case: Sierra McCandless, Oci-Anna Kilburn, Jennifer Newman, Shyenne Shelton and Traci Hutson.

They each face three counts of felony child abuse for their role in the incident. Hutson also faces two charges of failure to report abuse and simple assault against a minor, which are both misdemeanors.