ACS Worker Shoves Boy Into Door, Filing Cabinet: Officials

KIPS BAY, NY — An ex-con employee for the city Administration of Children's Services is facing charges for assaulting a 6-year-old boy in his care, officials said.

Jacques Edwards was arrested Monday in Harlem and charged with two counts of assault and one count of endangering the welfare of a child, according to a criminal complaint. Edwards is accused of roughing up a 6-year-old at The Children's Center — a foster care facility in Kips Bay.

The 55-year-old child care worker picked up the 6-year-old and forcibly pushed the child into a doorway at the First Avenue facility on August 3, according to the criminal complaint. The force of the push was so great that it effectively pushed the door open, according to the complaint.

After shoving the child into the door, Edwards then put him head-first into the top drawer of a metal filing cabinet, according to a criminal complaint. The boy suffered an abrasion to the left side of his head and was treated by a nurse at The Children's Center, the complaint said.

Officials from the Administration of Children's Services said that the ex-convict would not pass the city agency's current system of background checks for new hires. Edwards has been working with the agency for four years.

"There is a higher standard when you’re working with children, and we’ve strengthened our policies and protocols over the last year and a half to reflect that. If this person were applying to work with children today, he would not pass our vetting process and would not be put in this role," ACS Commissioner David A. Hansell said in a statement.

Edwards was arraigned Monday night and a judge set bail at $15,000 cash, a spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney's office said. The judge also awarded the victim an order of protection, the spokesperson said.

The accused child-beater has a troubled history with the law. Edwards served 28 years in Otisville state prison after being convicted of murder, attempted murder and weapons charges in 1982, according to the state Department of Corrections. Edwards was released on parole in 2010 and was discharged by the state parole board in 2016, according to the Department of Corrections.

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