‘The videos are like watching a horror movie’: Surveillance video at an Irwin Co. daycare leaves parents shaken

OCILLA, Ga. (WALB) - In January, an Irwin County daycare worker was accused of abusing an infant. She is now facing child abuse charges.

On Wednesday, the Irwin County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Ashley Taylor is being charged with abusing five children under her care.

According to Irwin County Sheriff Cody Youghn, Taylor was charged with 14 counts of cruelty to children. Youghn said their surveillance only went back 30 days from the time they confiscated it, but he believes there could have been more victims before then.

“She was originally arrested on the first original account when the report was made and then after the video footage was reviewed from the hard drive the other 13 counts she was charged with and arrested last Friday,” he said.

The ages of victims ranged from 3-13 months. During the investigation, the sheriff called each of the parents of the reported victims to show them the surveillance video of their child being forcefully hit by Taylor. One parent said her child was beaten seven times by Taylor.

“The first couple of videos, (we) couldn’t even stand to watch it. The videos were like a horror movie. It didn’t make any type of sense like it was ridiculous, and I never expected that out of them like my kids loved the daycare, it was just horrible,” Sharmone Shelly, a parent, said.

Jenna Brooks, another parent, told WALB she watched the abuse of her 11-month-old baby in two different videos.

“She was violently shaking the bouncer with her hand and then slaps my baby in the face several times and shoved her pacy in her mouth very hard, if her mouth was wider, it probably would have gone down her throat,” Brooks said.

Taylor was released from jail on bond, according to Youghn.

Both parents said they are in the process of talking with lawyers about what to do next.

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