Two Georgia pre-school teachers were busted after a surveillance camera caught them abusing pint-sized students at a Fulton County nursery school.
In the video obtained by WSBTV, one teacher is seen stepping on the fingers of a kid and then bumping another kid with her knee from behind. The footage shows another teacher using her finger to push a student’s head back after getting in the child’s face.
Parents watching a live feed of the classroom witnessed the incident.
Zeina Alostwani, 40, and Soriana Briceno, 19 were both apprehended on cruelty to children charges by Roswell police.
The disturbing incident happened in a three-year-old classroom at the Parker-Chase preschool in Roswell, a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia. Two parents watched it as it happened, according to WSBTV.
“I saw it but I was like no I didn’t see that,” parent Gloria Barghi told WSBTV.
She and parent Brant Duncan rushed to the school and demanded the teachers get away from the kids, WSBTV reported. The victims’ parents and police were contacted. The parent of one of the victims, who did not want to be identified, also spoke out.
“It was a matter of seconds, and knew what we had seen was deliberate and my stomach was just in my throat at that point,” she told WSBTV.
Following the apprehensions of the two teachers, several other victims have come forward and a larger investigation is underway.
A spokesperson for the Roswell police told reporters that officers will go back several weeks to review footage to see if there are other instances of possible abuse.
In a statement to parents, the preschool said the teachers were fired over the “inappropriate disciplinary actions.”
“While we are extremely grateful that the children are well, we take this matter seriously, and our investigation is ongoing,” the school stated, according to WSBTV. “We expect our staff to adhere to the highest standards of care, and any failure to do so will not be tolerated.”
On Tuesday, a judge granted a $75,000 bond for Alostwani, but Briceno didn’t get a bond based on her asylum and immigration status, WSBTV reported.
