Day care director allegedly caught on tape beating, shaking 4-year-old boy by the neck
Vivian Rankins was arrested after surveillance footage from the day care where she worked appears to show her beating a 4-year-old, then picking him up by the neck and shaking him.
lawandcrime.com
A 67-year-old woman and former day care facility director in Georgia was arrested last week after she was allegedly caught on tape physically assaulting a 4-year-old child in her care. Vivian Rankins was taken into custody on Thursday and charged with one count of felony second-degree cruelty to children, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a press release from the Snellville Police Department, officers at about 7 p.m. on Sept. 14 responded to a report about child abuse that allegedly took place on Sept. 8 at The Sunshine Child Learning Center located in the 2800 block of West Main Street. Upon arriving at the scene, officers placed Rankins under arrest and charged her in connection to the alleged attack.
The child’s mother, Samerramise Gibson, and father, Jordan Denton, who worked tirelessly to obtain the surveillance footage that led to Rankins’ arrest, spoke with Atlanta Fox affiliate WAGA about how they came to learn about the alleged attack, how they felt seeing their son being manhandled by a day care employee, and what steps they took to expose the alleged abuse.
The video shows the victim wearing a yellow shirt and sitting on the floor while a woman who authorities say is Rankins is sitting on a chair next to him. The video is grainy and there is no sound, but it appears to show Rankins leaning over and striking the boy about five or six times on his back and head, then picking him up off of the floor by his neck or collar, grabbing him by the neck, and repeatedly shaking him before throwing him back to the ground.
