LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — According to an incident report, the Moore County Sheriff’s Department arrested Sylvia Hargrove, age 44, an employee at Little Raiders Daycare on Tuesday, May 12 for simple assault of a one-year-old child under TCA 39-13-101.

According to the Tennessee Code Annotated, charge code 39-13-101 means to intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to another. It is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by incarceration and a fine not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars.

{Editor’s Note: The Lynchburg Times withheld the names of the complainants and witnesses to protect the identity of the minor victim. Be aware there are links in this article to sources where possible.}

According to the incident report, concerned parents walked into the local Sheriff’s Office last Wednesday, May 6 to report that their son had been assaulted by the local daycare employee who worked in the Infant 2 room at the facility located on Valley View Street in Lynchburg.

The parents became alerted when a concerned third party forwarded a video taken by a daycare worker two or three months ago. According to the report, the video “showed the defendant Sylvia Hargrove grabbing the child up by his right arm and swatting him on his bottom several times yelling at him. ‘I’m going to tear your butt up.'”

A 19-year-old whistleblower, who also works at the daycare, never reported it to the parents, Department of Children’s Services (DCS) or her employer, according to the report. Instead, she shared the video with other individuals both inside and outside the facility before it was eventually forwarded to the parents by the concerned third party.

According to the report, the parents went to Little Raiders and reported it to Director Erica Coons, who stated she had no knowledge of the incident or the video. Coons immediately fired Hargrove and banned her from the property. She also contacted her DCS licensing representative.

State officials visited the daycare twice after the assault

In this state, daycares are licensed by the Tennessee Department of Human Services Division of Child Care and Community Services.

According to the Tennessee Department of Human Services website, DHS conducted a Safety Plan Monitoring visit at Little Raiders Daycare on both May 7 and then again on Monday, May 11, and found them to be in non-compliance with licensing rules and regulations. DHS cited Little Raiders with three compliance violations: duty to report child abuse and neglect, inappropriate discipline by staff, and breach of confidentiality by administrators and ownership.

The first violation involved their duty to report child abuse and neglect and stated that “two educators were aware of a child being inappropriately disciplined while in attendance at this daycare. Neither of the educators reported this immediately to the proper authorities as required.”

The second violation involved staff and stated that “a child was inappropriately disciplined by an educator while in attendance at the daycare. Staff did not report this incident immediately. The director is responsible for the ongoing training and day-to-day operations of the childcare agency, including supervision of the staff.”

The third violation involved the ownership, organization, and administration and stated that “a video of a child while in attendance at the daycare was shared with other persons (inside and outside of the daycare). This is a breach of confidentiality for that child and family.”

A fourth violation involved program language and literacy development and stated that “it was observed through video that a child was inappropriately disciplined by an educator while in attendance.”

“Appropriate behavior interventions based upon age and development of children (positive guidance/focusing on positive behavior) and reasonable/appropriate discipline-redirection that a child can understand (without being shaming, abusive, or injurious),” the DHS findings continued.

That final item is marked as compliant but also shows a May 25 correction deadline.

According to Sheriff Tyler Hatfield, this is an open investigation, and there could be additional victims and charges. •

About The Lynchburg Times: The Lynchburg Times is owned by Lynchburg native Tabitha Evans Moore, a professional journalist with more than 20 years of experience covering Moore County. She writes deep human interest pieces that reflect what makes this town special — and investigative journalism that holds folks accountable. If you have a story you’d like her to look into, email editor@lynchburg-times.com.