VERO BEACH — A preschool employee was jailed last week after video footage showed her strike a boy in the head with a Crocs shoe and drag him by one arm across the classroom, reports show. The World Class Academy worker also pushed the 5-year-old boy face-first while he was sitting on a bed, deputies said.
“Olivia then raises the shoe, reaches back as if she is going to hammer a nail, and with full force strikes (the boy) on the top of the head,” deputies said in the arrest report. “Olivia then kept going in this physical altercation by grabbing (the boy) by the arm and dragging him approximately 10 yards to his bed for nap time.”
Olivia Tyree
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Olivia Lynnae Tyree, 25, of the 200 block of 13th Avenue, Vero Beach, was charged with child abuse. Tyree was released Tuesday from the Indian River County Jail on $5,000 bond.
The May 12 incident prompted an investigation led by the Florida Department of Children and Families and the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies received a complaint Monday and spoke with the director at World Class Academy – an independent early childhood learning center located in Vero Beach that provides a Christian preschool environment with high academic standards.
The director told deputies she was not aware of the allegations and that a report was not made, sheriff’s officials said. An employee told investigators that she did not see Tyree hit the boy.
But, deputies obtained camera footage of the incident where they said Tyree walked into a classroom that was not hers and hit the boy with the shoe. The video – which has not been publicly released – also showed Tyree throw the boy onto the bed, pick him up by one arm and then toss him onto the ground, reports show.
Tyree placed a blanket on the bed before she picked the boy back up and threw him onto the bed again, deputies said.
“While (the boy) was sitting on the bed, Tyree then with her right arm in a stiff-arm like motion, pushes (the boy) face-first into the bed in a malicious manner,” reports show. “(The boy) then continued to lie on the bed and cry.”
Deputies said Tyree then kicked the boy’s bed, picked him up again and dragged him out of the room. The child’s condition was not immediately known.
Deputies arrested Tyree and booked her into the county jail. Tyree has an arraignment at 8:45 a.m. July 6, court records show.
A court order prohibited Tyree from working at any daycare or childcare facility.
