Daycare Worker Twists 4-Month-Old Baby's Leg Until It Breaks: Police

A daycare worker in Manatee County, Florida, has been arrested after she was caught on video repeatedly slapping a 4-month-old and twisting the baby's leg so hard that it broke, police said.

Thalia Camarillo, 42, of Ellenton, was accused of attacking the baby at the child care facility Laugh N Learn Academy in Bradenton on Sept. 16, local newspaper Bradenton Herald reported.

The child was brought to Manatee Memorial Hospital — located across the street from the daycare — by a family member that day. The baby later had to be transferred to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg due to the complexity of the fracture. The current condition of the child is unclear.

Authorities learned of the incident after they were called to Manatee Memorial Hospital, whose staff reported the suspected child abuse, Bradenton Police Department spokesman Capt. Brian Thiers told the outlet.

Investigators determined that the baby had been abused at Laugh N Learn, he added.

The daycare handed over security camera footage of the incident after detectives were able to obtain a search warrant.

Police said the footage showed Camarillo slapping the baby several times with an open hand before twisting and bending the baby's right leg.

Camarillo was arrested Wednesday and charged with one count of aggravated child abuse. She refused to speak to authorities before being arrested, according to Thiers.

The daycare worker had not been booked into the Manatee County Jail yet when police announced her arrest, according to the report.

"This investigation is still continuing," Thiers said.

A similar incident happened in Jersey City, New Jersey, in May when police arrested a daycare worker after she allegedly abused a 9-month-old girl that was previously under her care.

Diana Camacho, 52, was arrested on May 4 after she turned herself in to authorities and was charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

Prosecutors accused Camacho of abusing a 9-month-old that was under her care when she was still an employee at Kiddie Academy of Hoboken.

The daycare contacted authorities on Dec. 14, 2020, after they learned of the alleged abuse.