Director charged with child abuse after state shuts down Charlotte daycare

CHARLOTTE — The director of a Plaza Midwood daycare has been charged with six counts of child abuse after a video surfaced of kids piling into a car without car seats.

Midwood Learning Academy on Central Avenue was shut down by state health officials at the end of February. The North Carolina Department of Health of Human Services suspended the facility’s license saying it has, “determined that emergency action is required to protect the health, safety and welfare of children.”

Channel 9′s Evan Donovan spoke to a mom who said one of the kids in that viral video was her daughter, who she had dropped off at the daycare. She said she got a call from her friend who saw her 3-year-old daughter at Cordelia Park that day playing with other kids her age. The child was seemingly without adult supervision until the friend noticed two people sitting in a car nearby.

“Just sitting in a sedan not paying attention at all to these kids,” the mom said. “They remained in the car, kids were just playing on their own at the park without any supervision.”

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Her friend claims she smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle.

Surveillance video shows her friend trying to confront the two adults as they began to gather the kids to leave. The friend took a Live Photo with her iPhone.

“You can see the teachers driving off in the car with the back door wide open, no kids buckled in, my daughter splayed across all the kids’ laps and they’re peeling out,” the mom said. “And it looks like she’s about to fall out of the car.”

Surveillance video shows the car driving away moments later.

An arrest warrant issued Friday shows the daycare director, Leslye Denise Torrence, was charged with six counts of misdemeanor child abuse.

“The defendant created a substantial risk by transporting the victim in a vehicle without a car seat or seatbelt and the rear drivers side door left open while the vehicle was in motion,” the warrant reads.

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