A day-care worker charged with child cruelty is free — five days after a prosecutor requested she be held without bail.
Eddye Pittmon, 55, was released from the Hall County jail Wednesday on a $35,000 bond with the consent of prosecutors — a day before a scheduled court hearing to determine if she deserved reasonable bail.
Troy Millikan, her lawyer, said she should have had a bond set immediately.
“My client is at home sleeping in her own bed, where she should have been the whole time,” Millikan said. “I said the longer she is in jail, the more the injustice, so let’s get her a consent bond.”
Pittmon was jailed Friday on the child cruelty charges after a 16-month-old boy in her care was found with third and second degree burns on the stomach and leg at the Discovering Basics day care. On Monday the owner of the day care, Minnie "Sue" Dupree and her daughter Tara Miller were arrested on charges related to the case.
They were freed on $25,000 bond Tuesday, said Deputy Nicole Bailes, spokeswoman for the Hall County sheriff’s office.
Millikan said he lobbied the district attorney’s office that Pittmon was the perfect bail candidate; she is a lifelong resident of the county and had a long-work record, six years for the now-closed day care and 15 years for a security company as well as holding down a third job at the Dollar Tree, the lawyer said.
“Now because there is a felony charge pending, she can’t work for them,” Millikan said.
The lawyer said his client could have a busload of parents to testify that she was a thoughtful and diligent caretaker of their children. He said she had no clue how the child was burned and doesn’t believe it occurred at the day care.
“It is a big mystery,” he said. “The child was not in discomfort during the day, crying or acting up.”
Hall County investigators say Pittmon put ointment on the leg of the boy, Damon Gaddis, but did not seek other medical treatment. They are not contending she intentionally burned the child.
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