A Hiram day care teacher is out on bond after being arrested and charged with battery involving a 5-year-old boy.
Angeles Westmoreland, 47, a former teacher at Greenfield Academy, was arrested Thursday, two weeks after the mother of the child noticed multiple bruises and scratches on her son and contacted the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office.
The county’s Crimes Against Children unit investigated, and charges followed.
“The investigation led the detectives to believe these marks were caused by Ms. Westmoreland,” Paulding sheriff’s Sgt. Brandon Gurley said Friday.
Efforts to reach Westmoreland and management at Greenfield Academy were unsuccessful Friday.
The child’s mother, April Nations of Powder Springs, said she and her husband were “mortified” July 21 after finding bruises on their son, who had been enrolled at the school with his 4-year-old sister for only three days.
Nations said she had arrived at Greenfield Academy around 6:45 p.m. that Thursday to pick up her children, and she had a 20-minute conversation with Westmoreland, who wanted to talk about her son’s bad behavior.
Later that evening, Nations said she and her husband sat down to talk with their son about his behavior when the parents noticed the bruises “from his head to his waist.” The mother would not detail how the son said he received the injuries, citing the ongoing investigation.
Nations said she called the authorities immediately and followed up with the school the next day to complain. She said Westmoreland remained at the school for several days before she was fired.
“Really, I just want to make sure that she pays for what she’s done and that she’s not ever allowed to do it to another family,” Nations said. “This has been brutal on our family.”
Nations said her son now is afraid to go to kindergarten.
“He’s running and hiding,” the mother said. “He’s scared. He’s afraid that those people are going to hurt him, too, and that’s not fair.”
Greenfield Academy’s website says the center, on Greenfield Road in Hiram, is family owned and operated and cares for children 6 weeks to 12 years old. Greenfield has been in operation for more than 10 years, the website says.
Westmoreland was arrested and taken to the Paulding County Detention Center. She has been released on $1,000 bond.
If convicted on the misdemeanor charge, Westmoreland could face a fine of up to $1,000 or jail time of up to 12 months, or both.
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