Northport Church Daycare Subject Of Abuse Investigation Amid Accusations From Parents

NORTHPORT, AL — A private daycare operated by a Northport church is under investigation after parents and employees raised concerns of potential abuse and neglect by staff.

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The Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the active investigation to Patch on Tuesday, following a heavily shared Facebook post by a concerned parent regarding The Word Academy (TWA) — a daycare run by The Word Community Church on Highway 69 North.

Allegations include that a TWA teacher physically abused children, including forcefully slamming a small child into a mat, striking children on the back and covering a baby’s face with a blanket.

Parents also reported suspicious bruises, pinch marks and neglectful behaviors such as improper feeding and placing infants in unsafe sleep positions. According to an advertisement by TWA, the daycare accepts children ranging in age from newborns to pre-K.

The concerned parent and author of the original Facebook post, India Keller, told Patch she received a call Friday, Sept. 12, from a Birmingham number that turned out to be an employee with the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR).

Keller's post had been shared nearly 300 times as of the publication of this story and included 461 comments, with many sharing similar stories.

Keller said the DHR representative had been to her child’s school and looked him over to ensure there were no marks following an anonymous report of potential abuse of children at the daycare.

“It completely took me off guard, because I thought, out of the decency of the school and the church, if they knew something like that was going on they would at least let us know,” she said. “But there was nothing, so I found out straight from DHR after she had already been out to see my child at his school.”

Pastor Scott Willmore issued a statement to parents shortly after the accusations surfaced, saying church staff was notified around 4:30 p.m. Friday that a case had been opened.

“Within minutes, our TWA board was on site and available to assist in any way,” he said. “With the open of business today, and throughout the day, we have been in contact with DHR and the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Department. We have made available all documentation and video footage we have, and will remain in full cooperation.”

The accusations center on teacher Ali Watkins, with parents accusing her of physically abusing children in the daycare.

In one video provided to Patch, Watkins is allegedly shown in a video recorded on Aug. 25 that shows her forcefully slamming a small child into a nap mat before striking the child on the back. The baby responds with a loud cry.

Nurse Allie Sims reflected in an interview with Patch about the moment she learned the 1-year-old child in the video was her daughter.

“I was standing in the hallway at work,” she recalled. “I literally just froze and just started bawling because I was furious.”

Sims, other parents and a former employee, confirmed to Patch that it was indeed Watkins in the video.

Without naming the teacher, though, Pastor Willmore told parents the staff member had been removed from the classroom and placed on administrative leave until the investigation is concluded.

"Because The Word Academy is in our facility and directly associated with us, we started our own investigation into the allegations that have been leveraged at a teacher in the school," Willmore said in an update to parents on Tuesday. "Today I met with the sheriff’s department and turned over all footage we have. After that meeting, I personally interviewed Kristy [Sanford], the director. After that interview, I, along with the board of directors, decided — regardless of how the official DHR investigation turns out — the way this incident was handled is not in line with the standards and heart of our church."

Willmore went on to say that he permanently relieved Sanford of her position as director of The Word Academy with the unanimous backing of the Board of Directors and also fired Watkins.

Still, in the immediate aftermath of the investigation coming to light, Keller said DHR began asking whether her son — who is almost a year old — had ever come home with bruises or scrapes. She said he had come home with “little bruises” on his arm and cheek but nothing that had raised red flags. She told the DHR official she couldn’t say for certain the bruises came from abuse.

Other photos provided to Patch from parents purported to show pinch marks made by adult fingers and severe bruises on children who had fallen out of high chairs. Another photo allegedly showed an unidentified adult asleep on the floor of a nursery while bottle-feeding a baby slightly propped on their back rather than being held in a safe upright position, creating a potential choking hazard.

“So immediately, I get off the phone with her, and I try to call The Word, and they didn’t answer,” Keller said. "Then I sent a text and said, ‘I’m going to need someone to call me as soon as possible.’ And then the assistant director called me.”

When Keller asked church officials about the DHR investigation and why she had not been informed, she said her concerns were brushed off and she was given “100% confidence” that the accusations weren't true.

“They actually said they fired someone last Thursday, [Sept. 14],” Keller told Patch. “They claimed that person was upset about being fired and was starting all this. But the person they said they fired Thursday was in my child’s classroom and she quit. She wasn’t fired. And she wasn’t even the one who called in the tips.”

Brittney Booth, another TWA parent, said she didn't receive a call from DHR and instead heard about the investigation from another parent.

“It was about 1 p.m. on Friday, I was at work, I didn’t know what to think about it, and I didn’t really know if it was all the truth at first,” Booth said. “Around 3 p.m., we found out from teachers that this other teacher was slamming [children's] faces down into mattresses and throwing them on the floor. The teacher who reached out was very specific about the abuse and neglect that was happening to the kids.”

Booth said she immediately left work — a job she has since had to take leave from due to lack of child care — and went straight to the daycare to pick up her son and get answers. She lamented the long waitlists at other church daycares, saying some were in excess of two years.

But when she requested to speak to The Word Academy Assistant Director Mary Beth Butler, Booth was informed that Butler was busy handling the active situation and could not step away to talk.

Booth decided that day to withdraw her son from the daycare, gathered his belongings and took him home.

“By the time I got home to my driveway, I was blocked on Facebook,” she said, echoing a sentiment other parents related to Patch in the immediate aftermath of receiving word about the investigation. “I was taken out of the [daycare’s] GroupMe. I was taken out of everything in regards to the daycare.”

For the Booth family, whose son has a medical condition requiring sensitive monitoring, other concerns emerged in the form of behavioral issues.

“There’s a video of the teacher actually picking up a kid by the shoulders and slamming their face down onto the playmat and not in a playful way,” Booth said of the video that shows Watkins with Sims' daughter. “You can hear in the video, after she slams the baby down and hits it on its back, the baby just screams. And it breaks my heart.”

Booth said behavioral issues with her son began about three weeks before the video surfaced. After consulting numerous doctors and her son's pediatrician, the issues were determined to be behavioral in nature and not the result of his underlying medical condition.

“Once we found out about the sleep situation at the daycare, we did contact our pediatrician, who confirmed that if there was any type of neglect or trauma, that could be a reason why my son is having such a hard time and causing behavioral issues,” she said.

Former employee Kaelyn Bridges told Patch that she quit after reporting the incidents in question and telling administrators she felt the children’s mistreatment wasn’t being handled correctly.

On one of her first days at The Word Academy, she said, she witnessed Watkins improperly feeding Keller’s son while he cried. Bridges, a mother of a small child who took the job partially to cover the cost of his daycare at The Word Academy, said it was clear Watkins was mishandling the baby.

“She would shove food in his mouth while he was still crying and he would almost choke on it,” Bridges said. “He’s sitting there literally screaming and this was around the time the video was taken. Whenever she would change diapers, she would go to put them back down on the ground and would sit them so hard that they would literally start crying."

Bridges said Watkins also forcefully slammed children’s heads down and covered them completely with blankets, leaving no air pockets. Bridges said she later uncovered the children’s heads after Watkins left for lunch.

Bridges then said she provided video evidence to an administrator and was told leadership had spoken to Watkins about the accusations.

Also in the video was the daughter of Cory Folds, who said his wife received a call from DHR on Friday afternoon after a wellness check at The Word Academy.

Folds said DHR told them there were reports of shoving, pushing and holding down, and his daughter was named among the potential victims.

“When the video starts, right next to the person who’s videoing, there’s a pink and white nap mat,” Folds said. “It looks like it’s empty, but that’s my daughter’s nap mat and she’s under there. She’s the one covered up.”

Following the discussion with DHR, Folds said he called the daycare around 3 p.m. Friday after not hearing from them. Associate Director Mary Beth Butler told him Director Kristy Sanford had gone home for the day.

“Their response was, ‘Yes, DHR showed up. We answered their questions. We have reviewed tape. We haven’t seen anything so far,'" Folds said. "They said they have had no complaints in the past on this teacher and had no reason to believe it was true. That's where we are right now. But there was no remorse or, ‘Hey, come in, let’s talk this through, let’s make sure your child’s OK, we’re taking this seriously’ — none of that.”

Folds said he and his wife decided to pull their daughter from the daycare amid the accusations and lack of transparency — just one of several families who have removed their children from The Word Academy.

Tuscaloosa Patch has reached out to church leadership for comment and will update this story accordingly.

“Seeing some of the other parents share their stories, I was thinking that our situation is bad, but I’m just thankful that we haven’t gone through what some of these other parents have gone through,” Folds said. “There are reports of children falling out of high chairs and being pinched and bitten and called names regarding their education level. It’s just really, really dark.”

Editor's Note: This story has been updated from its original publication with additional updates regarding staff changes at TWA. We have also removed a link to a video of one of the incidents in question at the request of the parents involved and out of respect for their privacy.

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