Day care provider hits grandson with board, then her brother turns her in, Iowa cops say
An Iowa man reported his sister, a day care provider, to authorities after police said he recorded video of her hitting a child with a wooden board.
The 59-year-old Iowa Falls woman was arrested Jan. 4 on a charge of child endangerment resulting in bodily injury, court records show. Attorney information was not available.
McClatchy New is not naming the woman to protect the identity of the child involved.
The woman’s brother contacted authorities with a video of his sister “abusing her grandson” by hitting him five times with a wooden object resembling a cutting board, police said.
The boy, whose age was not included, could be heard on the video “crying out in pain upon each strike,” according to a probable cause affidavit.
She was filmed striking the child three times in the lower back and once in the upper arm, court records show. A fifth strike could be heard but not seen, according to police.
Authorities noticed bruising on the boy’s body following the incident, court records show.
The woman told authorities she spanked and yelled at the child as “punishment for things he was doing to his siblings,” records show.
She was booked at the Hardin County Jail, court records show. She was released Jan. 8 on a $5,000 bail, the Times Citizen reported.
The woman’s brother told KCCI his sister had been doing this for years and that previous reports submitted to the Iowa Health and Human Services Department have not resulted in any action.
McClatchy News reached out to the Iowa Health and Human Services Department to confirm previous reports but did not immediately hear back.
The woman has an active home day care license, according to the department’s website.
Iowa Falls is about an 85-mile drive north from Des Moines.
This story was originally published January 13, 2025 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Day care provider hits grandson with board, then her brother turns her in, Iowa cops say."
