Two weeks ago on Feb. 23, two Sioux Falls daycare employees were arrested with 25 counts of abuse and cruelty of a minor. Tessa Gallagher and Kenedi Wendt were caught brutally abusing toddlers at their daycare and terminated immediately.

The investigation began when a mother reported concerns about what her child came home and told her about what happened at daycare during nap time. The child told his mom that while he was sleeping, Gallagher was banging his head on the mat. The daycare supervisors watched the video from the classroom and confirmed that Gallagher was being aggressive, yanking the boy up by the arm and throwing him back down on his mat. However, it did not stop there. Gallagher then put her legs over the child and pinned his arms to his sides. She then yanked him to his feet and dragged him across the room and slammed him to the ground on his back along with his sleeping mat.

These aggressive actions were then proven with many other children as she continued to yank kids off their mats, drag them across the room and slam them back onto the ground. Wendt also took her part in the incident by repositioning kids in their sleep and taking their blankets away from them.

During the investigation, the police found eight kids under the age of seven that were aggressively abused by these women. One child even reported that he had been having headaches and back pains frequently.

After being arrested and charged with many counts of child abuse, Gallagher refused to talk and asked for a lawyer. Wendt on the other hand, told officers that Gallagher was the one who trained her to behave how she did to the children. The investigation of Little Blessings Daycare is still underway with another court case for Gallagher and Wendt.