BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
Alabama officials and the 19th Judicial District Attorney’s Office celebrated the passage of an expanded definition of child abuse this morning, with a signature by Gov. Kay Ivey.
District Attorney CJ Robinson, members of his staff and area officials were present for the signing at the state capitol, which expands and adds language to Alabama Senate Bill 83, regarding child abuse.
The 19th Judicial District comprises Autauga, Chilton and Elmore Counties.
Robinson and his staff pushed for the new legislation after dealing with multiple child abuse cases relating to Prattville’s Journey Church Daycare workers, who were eventually found guilty or pled guilty to child abuse. Two of the daycare workers were found guilty in trial, while a third pled guilty. All were sentenced to jail time, Robinson said.
That case first began in May of 2022 when multiple infants were punched, kicked and shoved under the care of the three daycare workers. The abuse was not discovered immediately, but was later. It came from viewing cameras in the daycare after a potential employee reported concerns she witnessed during an interview process. Prattville investigators were able to catalogue a history of repeated abuse to the infants by viewing video tape history. Obviously, the infants could not speak for themselves, or tell their parents what had happened.
“Basically, we were able to create a new code section and expand the definitions,” Robinson said. He said when it came time to prepare for trial against the three former daycare workers, they were having to pull from multiple prior cases, and combine different legal terms to make their case for a felony charge.”
The new legislation adds terms and wording that makes it easier to prove a felony case. By the time the abuse was realized, there was no obvious bruising to the infants, but thanks to video, the evidence was there that the daycare workers had caused unnecessary pain to the infants.
“We took a roll of the dice in this case, pushing there was intention to induce unnecessary pain to the victims,” Robinson said. “If you had a child that was not wanting to go to sleep, the workers would get irritated and choke, slam, or shove them. One infant was hit 13-15 times on the leg,” Robinson said.
Robinson said the new additions help protect children who cannot verbalize what happened to them.
Today’s ceremony brings this, and other cases, full circle Robinson said. He said it was important to him to have many members of his team together for the photo.
“Today gives validation to our team and everyone in the office. We had 100 years of legal experience, and even so had a hard time putting a case together, and deciding if they were felonies.”
Robinson said most importantly, the children who were abused now have a voice, and what they went through in the past will protect other children in the future.
“Today proves the victim’s voices will be heard forever, and what they went through was not in vain. We have paved the road for the future.”
The former daycare workers in the Journey Church case are Leah Livingston, May Alice Sorrells and Susan Baker.
For a link to the original story when the abuse was first reported and arrests made, click https://elmoreautauganews.com/2022/05/02/three-daycare-workers-from-journey-church-of-prattville-face-felony-child-abuse-charges/
