BY SARAH STEPHENS AND HAMILTON RICHARDSON
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
As of Tuesday evening, all three women accused of felony-level child abuse at Journey Church’s daycare had been arrested, with one bonding out.
Tuesday afternoon Susan Melanie Baker turned herself to authorities and was booked into the Autauga Metro Jail at 5:36 p.m. Her bond amount was $55,000, of which she posted and was released a short time later at 6:15 p.m.
Per jail records, two other suspects remain in the Autauga Metro Jail on child abuse charges, both with bond amounts of $55,000. They are Alice Sorrells and Leah Livingston.
Leah Livingston, 58, was booked into the Autauga Metro Jail at 8:47 p.m. May 2.
May Alice Sorrells, 62, of Deatsville was the first to be booked at 5:58 p.m. May 2. Multiple media outlets inaccurately reported all three were in custody shortly after the press conference Monday.
On Monday afternoon, news of a terrible set of circumstances came to light as authorities announced the filing of criminal charges against three daycare workers who all worked for Journey Church Daycare in Prattville.
CJ Robinson, Chief Deputy District Attorney of the 19th Judicial Circuit, alongside Sgt. Shanks and Investigator Collier from the Prattville Police Department, explained the situation as well as the charges filed, in a press conference Monday.
“We called a press conference to announce the results of an investigation that is still ongoing,” said Robinson on Monday. “We’ve reached the point of this investigation where we feel that we need to try to communicate to the public what is going on. This has been a very emotional case so far and I know there are many families involved.”
Robinson referred to the investigation being done by the Prattville Police Department. He explained that several weeks ago, authorities were contacted by Journey Church into the possibility of child abuse in the daycare, pertaining to children under two-years-old.
Questions arose when a potential employee was shadowing other daycare workers and shared concerns of what she saw to church officials.
“That person did exactly what you’re supposed to do. If you see something, say something. They were willing to do that. They were brave enough to do that,” Robinson said.
He stressed that staff at Journey Church have been completely cooperative with this investigation. The three suspects were terminated immediately when allegations came to light.
Families with children in the daycare have been contacting the Prattville Police Department with their concerns.
Robinson said that initially there are potentially 11 children and families involved in this case. Seen children have been identified as of Monday.
As far as the kind of abuse the women were charged with, Robinson explained, “We’re talking about striking, were talking about shoving, were talking about physical abuse. There’s nothing sexual that has been uncovered or that we’ve seen. It’s all physical abuse to children under the age of two.”
“In those instances, if a child is being abused and you’re a daycare worker and that is in your presence and you believe that has happening, you have an affirmative duty to report that,” he said. “That did not happen here in this case.”
Specifically, the charges are one count of Felony Child Abuse for each of the three women and one count of Failure to Report Child Abuse, as they are all mandatory reporters.
A special Grand Jury will be recalled later this month, where additional charges could be presented. Robinson said this case could include up to 40 charges of child abuse.
“The investigation is ongoing and we’re communicating with those families and it’s a very difficult case. It’s absolutely horrific. The video in this case– it is unbelievable. It is something that you would imagine that would be in a horror movie or something disturbing.”
A significant addition to the situation, said Robinson, was that all three women were previously at another daycare together before moving over to Journey.
“I do think I should mention that these three women previously worked at another daycare facility here in the Prattville area,” he said. “That facility was East Memorial Daycare facility. I believe that it was closed in December of last year and these three women moved over to this location. At this time, it is my understanding that we do not have any evidence that this type of behavior was occurring at East Memorial but also, we do not have the ability to pull video from those instances because I don’t believe it exists or it is too old.”
Robinson expressed his appreciation for the quick-acting decisions of his colleagues in this case.
“I do appreciate quick action on this case. Judge Joy Booth acted very quickly. When these warrants were issued, she issued bonds for these three individuals,” he explained. “All three, Alice Sorrells, Leah Livingston and Susan Baker, have a bond of $50,000 cash. They also have a $5,000 cash bond on the charge of Failure to Report as a Mandatory Reporter. So, all three individuals have $55,000 worth of cash bonds each.” As noted above, as of this report Baker is the only one to have made bond and been released from Autauga Metro Jail, per jail records.
Robinson is asking for parents’ help in this case, and encourages them to talk with their kids who attend the Journey Church Daycare.
“This might be a good time to have a conversation with your children and ask if things happened that were inappropriate,” Robinson said. “I know those are difficult decisions to make for parents or conversations to have. If you have information about these three women of prior instances, please contact Prattville Police Department. Please contact Butterfly Bridge Children’s Advocacy Center. We want to know what happened. We want to help you get justice for those children.”
“The children in this particular case, what is so bone-chilling, these children are not at the age to talk,” he said. “These children that are abused cannot go home and tell their parents that they were hit. They cannot tell their parents they were shoved. They cannot tell their parents they were assaulted.”
Robinson sent a clear message to parents regarding the case against the women.
“With the reality and the brazenness that I see these three people do on these videos, this is not the first time, and that’s why we are imploring people that if your children were around these three women previously, talk to them,” he repeated. “Know who your children are staying with. Go the extra mile and not only get to know the facility that your children go to, but get to know the people.”
Robinson praised Journey Church for having video surveillance in place, and encouraged other daycares to do the same.
