Ex-daycare worker sentenced to 8 weekends in jail for slapping toddler

INDIANAPOLIS — A former daycare worker will spend eight weekends in jail after admitting to slapping a 2-year-old boy in her care.

As WRTV Investigates reported, the incident happened at Kiddie Academy in Greenwood in November 2024.

An employee at the time, Joyce Perkins, was working as a floater when she slapped Jayden, 2, across the face.

“She popped him,” said the victim’s mother, Jessica Hill. “It was rage. I was furious.”

In Johnson County Court on Monday, Perkins pleaded guilty to Battery on a person less than 14 years old, a level 6 felony.

“I’m very sorry that it happened that way,” Perkins said in court. “I did not mean no harm. That was not my intention.”

Perkins claimed Jayden spat on her, which prompted her to slap him.

However, prosecutors said video of the incident showed Jayden did not spit on Perkins, but rather “blew a raspberry.”

Deputy prosecutor Bridget Foust also pointed out that Perkins grabbed Jayden by the jacket after slapping him.

“This is every parent’s nightmare,” said deputy prosecutor Bridget Foust, who pointed out Perkins was in a position of trust while working at the daycare.

Perkins was fired from Kiddie Academy and is no longer working in child care.

She’s currently a single mom who works in a factory, she told the judge.

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