NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A daycare worker has been arrested for allegedly shaking a baby boy four times and then slapping him at a daycare in Northwest Miami-Dade.
The arrest occurred at Thumbelina Learning Center and Academy located on the 8300 block of Northwest 22nd Avenue, at approximately 7 p.m., Wednesday.
According to an arrest report, a witness told police that Marta Jimenez, 58, violently shook an 11-month-old child and slapped him on the body and face earlier in the day as she was dropping off her child.
“As I entered the room, the lady was roughly changing the baby’s diaper, then she sat him down, then she picked the baby up and started shaking him constantly in the air,” Angel, the witness in the case, said, “and then she put him back down and started beating him all over his body. It’s sad. I had to call somebody. I called 911.”
Jimenez has denied the allegations.
At least one of the parents found the alleged incident hard to believe.
“This school is real good. This school is very, very good,” parent Shakida Massie said.
Massie’s 2-year-old daughter attends Thumbelina Academy, and she said she knows Jimenez well.
“She loved my kid. She loves kids, period,” Massie said. “That was the best teacher they ever had, so I don’t know why they said she hit on a kid because every time I come here, she don’t know if she played with kids. She loves kids.”
Jimenez’s daughter told 7News that none of the allegations are true.
It remains unknown how long Jimenez worked at the daycare prior to her arrest, but public posts on social media picture her with children in early 2017.
Angel said she has removed her child from the school, and she has no regrets about calling police.
“It’s the right thing to do. Why would I ignore it?” she said. “Be careful where you send your children.”
Jimenez has been arrested on one charge of child abuse with no great bodily harm. She has bonded out of jail.
Thumbelina Learning Center and Academy did not comment on the incident.
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