ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE DAYCARE DIRECTOR SENTENCED IN CHILD ABUSE CASE
After years of neglect, the former director of Robins Air Force Base Daycare, Latona Mae Lambert, has been sentenced to two years of probation after being found guilty of failing to report the child abuse happening in the daycare.
Fourteen kids were abused by two of her employees, Antanesha Mone Fritz and Zhanay Kiana Flynn, for whom she’s responsible for properly training and managing to take care of the kids in daycare.
The two employees were sentenced to second-degree child abuse charges, for which they will spend six months in federal prison.
How the Neglect Was Discovered
In 2019, accusations in Robins Air Force Base Daycare appeared against the two employees, which were reported to the director or the security of the daycare, but as time passed, no actions or investigation was made by the director to deal with these accusations.
When humans are facing accusations, a natural response to this is to investigate and provide evidence to counter false claims. In this case, the director took no such action, raising concerns about the safety measures in place at the daycare.
Lambert didn’t do anything, which led her to her being found guilty, same as her employees. This suggests that she didn’t think about the safety of the children in her daycare.
What This Means for Childcare Accountability
This will serve as a reminder for all daycare facilities to be responsible with their employees, especially Robins Air Force Base Daycare, to give proper training, observe them thoroughly, and properly manage their actions between children.
As children are being abused, their emotional, physical, and mental health will be negatively affected. Their behavior changes, which is hard for the children and their parents. Abuses like this will lead these children to have traumas for life.
This is an eye-opener for daycare facility directors or providers to reinforce their commitment to child safety by prioritizing safety protocols for the children and establishing an environment where there’s no abuse so that parents' minds are at peace and children are always safe.
Mandatory Report in Daycare
It is very important for the daycare facilities director to mandate reporting on what’s happening in the facilities, just like what happened with the Robins AFB CDC abuse.
If there’s a problem between children or employees, it will be addressed with a proper solution and taken seriously. This gives parents such assurance that their child is safe within the daycare environment.
This will also allow directors to improve their employees, rules, and regulations so that all people in the daycare facility are safe.
How to Ensure Child Safety
Parents must make a call or visit directly with the daycare directors; this will give them a chance to make an impression about the director, which will help them identify the characteristics of the director towards their daycare.
Meet all employees under the daycare facility, especially the people who will be with your child, do a background check on them, and make sure that there is no previous history of abuse. If there is, address this properly with the director and ask for a proper solution.
Inform your child about these possible situations and explain them to them in a way that they will understand as a child; this will help you and your child to prevent any abuses, and your child may report it to you directly if they are aware of the situation. Let them know that you are their guard and will help them if any situation comes so that they are more confident in telling you so.
Child abuse is not acceptable in any way. Justice has been served, but the traumatic experiences of these children will remain. They will suffer, and their parents will have a hard time helping them to remove these traumas.
Let this be a lesson, not only for Robins Air Force Base Daycare but for all daycare providers out there that you will face consequences if you harm children in any way.
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