PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A former North Philadelphia day care employee is facing a slew of charges after she was seen on video violently dragging a 6-year-old girl to the bathroom and hitting her.
It happened on Aug. 6 at Rainbow Daycare and Learning, located at 26th and Huntingdon streets. Philadelphia police said the 50-year-old worker, Nakia Bartley, got into an argument with the girl and pushed the child to the ground.
Police said she then dragged the girl by her feet to a nearby bathroom. Inside the bathroom, investigators said Bartley punched the girl in the mouth, leaving her with a cut on the inside of her upper lip and loosening one of her teeth.
Videos of Bartley dragging the girl to the bathroom were filmed by multiple bystanders, one of which has circulated widely on social media. KYW Newsradio's newsgathering partners at NBC10 obtained one of the videos here.
Bartley is charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and other related offenses.
Bartley’s lawyer, Lonny Fish, told NBC10 that this is her first incident in decades of early child care.
“Nakia has been in the business of day care since 1993, and she’s cared for, of my estimate, thousands of children,” Fish said. “Thousands of citizens within Philadelphia. Many of whom are walking around being upstanding citizens, and none of which have had a single complaint about her.”
Fish said Bartley no longer works at Rainbow Daycare.