Conway babysitter cuffed after striking 1-year-old child, police say
A 58-year-old babysitter found herself in jail after allegedly hitting a 1-year-old, according to an arrest report.
Conway police arrested Carolyn Vanessa Smith and charged her with cruelty to children. She was booked into J. Reuben Long Detention Center on Thursday, and bail was set at $2,000.
Officers went to Grainger Road in Conway, South Carolina, on Tuesday for a reported assault of a minor. They spoke to the victim’s mom, who said she had a recording of her child at the home of a babysitter. The mom put her iPhone in the child’s bag and left the audio recording active, the report states. The phone picked up the sound of the child crying and then a slapping sound.
Smith spoke to police, who said she hit the child as a discipline for knocking down her belongings, the report states.
Smith said she told the child’s mother that she would discipline the toddler if he acted up, according to the report. The child did not have any bruises or injuries.
Officers again spoke to Smith days later, and she confessed to cruelty towards the child, the report states.
Cruelty towards a child is a misdemeanor charge and punishable by up to 30 days in jail.
