Two former daycare workers were sentenced on Wednesday to six months in prison after being found guilty of physically and verbally abusing young children in their care. Zhanay Kiana Flynn and Antanesha Mone Fritz, both former daycare workers at the Robins Air Force base in Georgia, pleaded guilty on May 9 last year to abusing children in their care. The two women were slapped with charges of cruelty to children in the second degree after they agreed to a plea deal that saw additional charges dismissed.
Standing before Judge C. Ashley Royal on Wednesday, the women expressed their remorse and requested that they would be put on probation. The federal judge, however, told the two defendants that it would not be appropriate.
The pair face minimal sentencing after initially assisting with an investigation into child abuse taking place at the facility. Both women were initially facing 12 months in prison. After serving six months, the women will be subject to three years of supervised release.
Attorneys representing the women said that they had sought therapy to ensure that their outbursts don’t happen again. Timothy Saviello, who represented Flynn, said that she had welcomed the opportunity to confront her behavior. Flynn said that she “loved” caring for children and that caregiving was a big part of her life, having taken care of her mother before her death.
The words, however, didn’t change the fact that the plea agreement found that both women “routinely abused” children in their care in multiple ways. The women allegedly encouraged the children to physically fight with each other. The carers would then hug and reward the children for fighting, resulting in further fights as children battled for their attention. Both women would also spray cleaning products in the toddlers’ faces and force them into small cupboards to discipline them. Flynn also reportedly kicked a child so hard that even the CCTV camera that recorded the incident shook.
