Blaine Daycare Workers Physically Assaulted Babies: Police

BLAINE, MN — Two Blaine daycare center workers are accused of physically assaulting babies, causing significant bruising.

Elizabeth Wiermerslage, 22, of Coon Rapids, and 24-year-old Chloe Johnson of Blaine were both charged Friday with counts of assault and malicious punishment of a child.

If convicted, they face up to five years in prison.

On July 16, Blaine Police Officers received a report of potential child abuse occurring at a daycare center located on Paul Parkway Northeast.

KARE 11 identified the center as Small World Daycare.

The report mentioned "unexplained bruising" in multiple areas on the body of a five-month-old baby, according to the criminal complaint reviewed by Patch.

The baby's parents said they dropped their child off at daycare on July 15 around 7 a.m. with no red marks or bruising.

They picked their child up that afternoon and — when they changed the baby's diaper — noticed bruising on her thighs, groin, buttocks, and legs, according to police.

The parents contacted the daycare center about the bruising, and someone from the center suggested it might be from the chair or swing in the immobile infant room, authorities said.

Police spoke with the primary daycare teachers, Johnson and Wiemerslage. They both suggested the marks could have occurred from the infant swing or chair in the classroom, according to the criminal complaint.

However, surveillance video from July 15 shows Johnson violently "flipping" the baby as the baby appears to be screaming, authorities said. The video has no audio, according to police.

The video also showed Johnson picking up another infant roughly and holding a cloth over the infant’s mouth and nose for several seconds while the baby was apparently crying, the criminal complaint states.

Johnson is seen griping the baby "firmly by the neck before she violently pulls them up by the arm," authorities said.

The video also shows Weimerslage being rough for the infants in a similarly rough manner, according to the criminal complaint. A total of three infants were handled violently by Johnson and Weimerslage that day, authorities said.

Medical reports indicate that one of the babies sustained bruising in nine different areas of her body, including her groin, buttocks, thighs, shins, and abdomen.

The bruises were consistent with a "grip injury" or "squeeze-type injury" and are inconsistent with a chair or strap injury, authorities said.