‘Profoundly sorry': Horror as child slapped by worker
Don't miss out on the headlines from Parenting. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A disturbing Snapchat video of a child being slapped by a worker for entertainment has been obtained by the ABC as part of an investigation into one of Australia's biggest childcare providers.
The nine-second video, which was taken at Affinity Education centre in Sydney's inner west in South Strathfield, shows the child crying in a bouncer as they are slapped in the face multiple times by the worker.
Want to join the family? Sign up to our Kidspot newsletter for more stories like this.
The footage was reportedly posted to Snapchat with a laughing emoji in May 2023.
The video was obtained by ABC's 7.30. The program gained access to a stack of internal regulatory documents following a parliamentary order obtained by Greens MP Abigail Boyd.
Affinity Education, which is privately owned, runs 250 childcare centres across the country, and includes the brands Papilio, Milestones and Kids Academy.
The worker has since resigned from the centre and was convicted of common assault. She was given a community corrections order and banned from working in childcare for 12 months.
The colleague who filmed the video has also resigned.
Affinity Education CEO Tim Hickey said the centre acted quickly after being notified of the incident by police.
'The safety, wellbeing, and development of every child must always come first,' Affinity CEO Tim Hickey said in a statement after declining an interview by ABC's 7.30.
The childcare worker was convicted by police. Picture: ABC
'I want to express again how profoundly sorry I am that something like this could occur to any child in our care.
'These incidents are not representative of the dedicated, professional team who care for children every day across thousands of centres.'
The ABC said that between 2021 and 2024, Affinity centres across NSW had received more than 1700 regulatory breaches, clocking up more than one a day. Despite this, they have been fined less than $2000.
The ABC also obtained footage of a worker dragging a toddler by the arm at a centre in Elderslie, in south-west Sydney.
Former Affinity employee Loretta Dodwell, who worked at a Queensland centre, said the culture at the education company was 'toxic'.
'The cost cutting and the lack of staff really caused serious incidents in the centre,' she told 7.30.
'They were also putting on lots of trainees, like young trainees that were cheap to employ and that put a lot of pressure on the qualified staff.'
This story was republished with permission from news.com.au.
Originally published as 'Profoundly sorry': Horror as child slapped by worker
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Man dies after being struck by Transperth bus outside Perth Arena
A 45-year-old man has died after he was hit by a bus while crossing the road near the Perth Arena on Friday night. A Public Transit Authority bus was turning right onto Wellington Street from Milligan Street at around 6:15pm when it hit the man who was crossing the road. He sustained critical injuries and died at the scene. The 37-year-old bus driver was not injured and is assisting police with its investigation. Major Crash investigators are appealing for anyone with information or dashcam footage of the scene to contact police. There was increased foot traffic in the area on Friday night due to a sports event at the Perth Arena, but it is not yet known whether the man was attending the event. It comes after a woman was killed after being hit by a Transperth bus on the Causeway in East Perth in March.
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Early morning ram raid leaves Melbourne convenience store in ruins
A convenience store in Melbourne's north was targeted in a failed ram raid early Saturday morning, as a car smashed through the front of the Preston shop before fleeing empty-handed. Police said a white Ford Ranger reversed into the glass doors of the store on Plenty Road at around 3:00am. The doors at Plenty Road Convenience were shattered in the attack but police said the offenders were unable to gain access, and nothing was stolen. Police confirmed the shop attendant, who was on site at the time, was not injured in the incident. The vehicle was last seen fleeing northbound on Plenty Road. Neighbouring businesses have been unable to open on Saturday morning due to fears of structural damage to the building after the incident.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
AFP raids multimillion-dollar Double Bay home over alleged 30kg cocaine deal
A man has been charged with allegedly trying to possess 30 kilograms of cocaine after a wild police raid in one of Sydney's most exclusive suburbs. Wild footage showed a 40-year-old man being escorted away from a home on Holt Street in Double Bay on Friday afternoon by undercover police officers dressed up as tradies. He has since been charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of unlawfully imported border controlled drugs. Police will allege in court he was the intended recipient of 30 kilograms of cocaine imported by a criminal syndicate offshore, and had travelled to a 'dead drop' in Alexandria on Friday to collect what he believed to be the drugs. Dead drops are a secret location where items such as cash and illicit drugs are left for other people to collect. Police had intercepted the delivery however, and replaced the alleged cocaine with an inert substance, a statement from the Australian Federal Police said. The AFP will allege the man removed a sports bag containing the 30kg of the substitute material from a parked van in Alexandria and then returned to his home in Double Bay, at which point police pounced. Officers raided the Double Bay home and a nearby unit, and arrested the man following a 'short foot pursuit' down the road. Police allege multiple encrypted mobile devices, the sports bag containing inert substitute material and an amount of anabolic steroids were seized from the two homes. It will be alleged the cocaine had an estimated street value of $9.7 million and would have equated to about 150,000 street deals. A neighbour who watched the incident unfold told NewsWire on Friday he had been working from home when 'a series of really loud bashing and crashing sounds' could be heard nearby. 'A number of cars have pulled up in a hurry and a bunch of undercover cops dressed as tradies jumped out with guns and radios and whatnot,' the neighbour said. 'Some crew in substantial gear were basically just belting on the door, just ramming it trying to get access and during this time more and more police are coming out of the woodwork.' As the situation developed, the neighbour said the street became a hub of police activity. 'There's a lot of them moving around in unmarked vehicles and they're just trying to lock the whole area down,' he said. The neighbour said the lavish mansion where the raid took place rarely draws attention, although gatherings seem to take place there relatively frequently. 'They'd host a lot of family affairs at the house, always low-key, nothing gnarly … but it was the kind of place where they'd have lot of shindigs.' Footage from the raid showed an unmarked police car had blocked off the street with its lights flashing, and armed officers were seen stationed around the area. A spokesman for the Australian Federal Police confirmed officers had executed a search warrant at the premises 'as part of an ongoing criminal investigation'. The man will face Parramatta Local Court later on Saturday.
