Left inset: Sandra Downer in court for assaulting two young children who were in her care. Right inset: Sandra Downer grabbing a 17-month-old girl by one arm and lifting her off the ground. Background: The Lad “n Lassie Nursery & Preschool where Sandra Downer carried out her assaults on young children in her care (WCVB/YouTube).
A “trusted” Massachusetts day care owner has admitted to assaulting two young kids while she was watching them last year, including a 17-month-old girl who was yanked around by her arm on camera and another child who was slammed down and bound to a cot.
Sandra Downer, 58, of Natick, pleaded guilty last Thursday to two counts of assault and battery in connection with a pair of alleged incidents that happened at her day care, Lad ‘n Lassie Nursery & Preschool, in October, according to local ABC affiliate WCVB.
Downer was caught on video committing one of the assaults on a 17-month-old girl in her care, WCVB reports. She can be seen forcibly pulling the child off the ground by her arm and lifting her into a seat as other children paint around her. Cops said the child was being held roughly 2 to 3 feet off the ground at one point.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
During another incident, also caught on camera, Downer can be seen slamming the 17-month-old’s sister onto a cot and binding her to it, police and prosecutors reported.
“I thought this was definitely abuse, and it broke my heart, and seeing both of my girls be [assaulted] by someone we trusted,” the children’s mother, who asked to not be identified, told WCVB. “Was absolutely heartbreaking.”
Another person who uses the day care said, “Every parent just wonders ‘are their kids safe when they’re not there?’ It just shatters your trust in people.”
At least one witness told police that they had previously seen Downer be “rough with the kids” during other alleged incidents, according to prosecutors. When questioned about the assaults, she admitted to committing them and said she apologized to the children.
Downer has reportedly surrendered her childcare provider license and admitted in court to exercising poor judgement on the day of the assaults. She will be on probation for 18 months as part of her plea deal and must take anger management classes, as well as a mental health evaluation.
