A woman working at a nursery has been accused of mistreating a child with disabilities in her care, as per a statement from law enforcement. The disturbing footage purportedly shows Kaitlyn Pitzer, aged 36, applying hand sanitizer to wounds on the 11-year-old’s arms and teasing the child by smudging icing on their face. Consequently, she was terminated from the daycare facility.
Authorities claim that surveillance video captures Pitzer and another assistant attempting to bandage the child’s forehead while the child sat on the floor. When the child leaned forward, Pitzer allegedly pushed the child’s forehead forcefully, resulting in a violent and excessive reaction from the child, according to police reports.
Shortly after, it is alleged that Pitzer teased the child with a piece of cake, prompting the child to reach for it and get icing on their finger. The accused individual, from Florida, then proceeded to grab the child’s finger and use it to smear icing on the child’s face, followed by aggressively smearing more icing from the floor onto the child’s forehead, as stated by the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.
During an interview with deputies, Pitzer reportedly found the icing incident amusing at the time. The surveillance footage suggests that Pitzer forcefully wiped the icing off the visibly upset child’s face with a paper towel.
Subsequently, the nursery worker escorted the child to a hand sanitizer dispenser, where she applied hand sanitizer to the child’s arm wounds. This action reportedly caused the child distress, prompting them to flee to another part of the classroom, according to the sheriff’s office.
Upon reviewing the footage, the child’s parent expressed significant concern, noting that the force used to push the child backward could have resulted in serious injury due to pre-existing medical conditions. Additionally, the parent reported that previously healing scabbed injuries began bleeding again following the incident.
The alleged misconduct occurred at Tender Care PPEC in Spring Hill. Deputies indicate that concerns were raised by the facility’s administration regarding Pitzer’s mistreatment of a child during her employment, which led to her recent dismissal. Pitzer has now been formally charged with child abuse, as confirmed by the sheriff’s office.
Following her arrest at home on October 9, authorities revealed that Pitzer admitted to feeling frustrated and behaving inappropriately. She is presently in custody at the Hernando County Detention Center on a $5,000 (£3,713) bond, as per official sources.
