‘Failed to protect our child:’ Video shows daycare worker throw boy to ground, family now suing

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — WARNING: Some may find the video in this story disturbing.

A family is taking legal action against a metro Atlanta daycare company. In an exclusive interview, Matt and Mallory Stevens told Channel 2′s Michele Newell what a teacher did to their son.

A shocking video shows a daycare teacher shaking the boy before throwing him to the ground. According to the lawsuit, the incident happened in 2022 at The Sunshine House on Brushy Drive in Loganville.

“It was terrible you never want to see your child treated that way. Thrown to the ground,” said the victim’s father, Matt Stevens.

“The teacher is in such a rage that she proceeds to yank every child violently by the arm to sit them at a round table,” said Attorney Peter Ross of Ross & Pines, LLC.

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In the video, you see the teacher walk back over to the boy, grab him and place him in a chair.

“At the time we were told he was just yanked up by one of his arms. Several hours passed between when it happened and when we were notified. We were later contacted by law enforcement saying they viewed the video and that we needed to have other areas of his body, his back and head examined, that he was forcibly thrown to the ground. He was 15 months at the time that was shocking to hear,” his mother Mallory Stevens said.

Christell Bobich was fired, charged and pled guilty. Two years later, the Stevens say their son is still impacted by what happened.

“Aside from the physical issues. There have been changes with him. His ability to sleep through the night by himself,” Stevens said.

“He has a real hard time with changes in his care when he gets a new teacher at his preschool. He cried at drop-off. He doesn’t feel safe,” said Stevens.

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“They deserve justice which is Sunshine House taking responsibility for its actions both in general and financially,” Ross said.

“I’m most hopeful by filing the lawsuit that it warns others of the risks that are involved with trusting your children with people you don’t know. The teacher herself acknowledges that she was not qualified to lead that class. She was hired just a few weeks before as an assistant teacher in the classroom. She wasn’t qualified to do it. She wasn’t comfortable. There were too many kids in the class and they told her, this is her own testimony they told her not to worry about it and that the other teacher would be back soon,” Ross said.

“They failed to protect our child during the actions, they failed to provide him with adequate care, they failed to notify us in a timely manner, they failed to give us enough information,” said Stevens.

The Sunshine House released the following statement regarding the incident:

“Nothing is more important to us than the safety and well-being of all children in our care. We cannot stress enough how seriously we take this incident. On January 25, 2022, an employee at our school in Grayson, GA saw a teacher inappropriately handle a child. She informed her supervisor of the incident, and the teacher was terminated that day. We reported the incident to the proper authorities, and notified the parents of the children involved in the incident, in accordance with state licensing regulations and company procedures.

At the time of this incident, the former teacher had been employed for less than 90 days.

All state and company hiring policies were followed prior to hiring this individual. As a state-licensed and regulated childcare provider, this process includes a comprehensive criminal background check that includes both in-state and national fingerprint-based criminal history and a child abuse and neglect registry check.

Unfortunately, we cannot comment further due to current litigation.” Barbra Richardson, Company Spokesperson.

Newell and Channel 2 Action News have covered three incidents involving three different Sunshine House locations, including the Stevens case. This is now the second lawsuit against the company, Newell has reported on.

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