Prosecutors are dropping charges against a daycare worker at a Lee Health daycare in Cape Coral.
Surveillance video shows her grabbing kids by their hair and throats at the Cape Coral Child Development Center.
The State's Attorney telling 4 In Your Corner the law protects daycare workers when it comes to how they discipline kids.
4 In Your Corner talking to a parent of one of the kids who says he is frustrated by the decision. The former daycare worker, Roietta Plazewski, was originally charged with abusing their child.
Lee Health fired Plazewski from the Cape Child Development Center last month. She was later arrested by Cape Coral Police on two charges of child cruelty.
Now prosecutors say their hands are tied from a legal perspective. Daycare workers and others acting in place of a parent are protected by Florida law and are allowed to impose reasonable physical discipline for bad behavior. This, despite the families choosing to press charges.
In a statement, a spokesperson at Lee Health says even though the charges have been dropped, the former employee won't be eligible for rehire saying, "Our standards for employee behavior are high and we will not tolerate conduct that violates the trust of those in our care."
The State's Attorney says for the prosecution to go forward they would have to prove unreasonable physical discipline and physical injury. In this case, neither child was injured.
