By Heather Knight
Elmore/Autauga News
Top Photo: District Attorney CJ Robinson speaking during an original press conference concerning the child abuse in May 2022. (File Photo)
Back in May of 2022, a press conference dropped a bomb shell, after it was revealed that three daycare workers at Journey Church of Prattville were accused of multiple counts of child abuse of children in their care. The accusations came after a person who was interviewing for a job at Journey Church witnessed what they thought was abuse and immediately reported it to church officials. In turn, church officials reached out to the Prattville Police Department, which obtained video footage of the rooms where the children were abused and began a lengthy investigation..
This morning, those accusations turned to sentences for the three accused in Autauga County court.
Susan Baker, Leah Livingston and Alice Sorrells were all sentenced to 10 years by Judge Joy Booth, though not all of that includes jail time.
There sentences were for the following counts:
Count 1:
Child abuse
-10 years split to serve 1 year in county jail.
-upon release 2 years of community corrections
-upon completion 3 years’ probation
-$500 fine
Count 2:
Child Abuse
-10 years split to serve 1 year in county jail.
-upon release 2 years of community corrections
-upon completion 3 years’ probation
-$500 fine
** consecutive with count 1
Multiple Counts Failure of a Mandatory Reporter to Report Known or Suspected Child Abuse
-6 months per count
-$500 fine
* Concurrent with any other sentence.
Susan Baker pled guilty to two counts of child abuse and five counts of failure to report child abuse back in February. Livingston and Sorrells were found guilty of Class C Felony child abuse in late 2022.
For sentencing today, the courtroom was packed full of support from both sides.
Judge Booth allowed for two people to speak on behalf of each defendant and for parents of the victims to make statements before sentencing.
Many spoke in support of the defendants stating they trust them with their lives and their children and that this is the only time any of them had been to jail and had never even had speeding tickets.
The defense showed a video of one of the defendants spanking a child on the foot and stating, “I want it to sting” while giggling.
District Attorney CJ Robinson said “The jury has spoken and now the Judge has spoken, and I am glad these parents can close this chapter and start moving forward. I know they will never get over this, but I can’t thank them enough for the patience and encouragement that they have been to us to help be the voice for their children.”
You can find a link to our original article from May 2022 HERE.
