‘Abhorrent Behavior’: Two South Carolina Daycare Workers Encouraged Kids to Fight Each Other, Sheriff Says

Two South Carolina women have been arrested after they allegedly encouraged minors at their daycare to fight each other, according to authorities.

On Nov. 9, Ericka Jones, 27, and Serena Caldwell, 56, turned themselves in after authorities launched an investigation into alleged incidents that at Kids Unlimited of Prosperity daycare, the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office announced.

Jones and Caldwell were both charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and unlawful conduct to a child. Jones faces 14 counts and Caldwell faces 15, officials said.

According to Sheriff Lee Foster, Caldwell and Jones allegedly encouraged and directed students, ages 3 and 4, to fight or exhibit violence toward other students and “allowed the violence to proceed without correction,” WIS-TV and reported.

Jones and Caldwell allegedly “promoted other students, or other clients of the daycare, to use violence to try to punish a child or make another child complaint,” Foster told WLTX-TV,

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Foster added that the actions were “abhorrent behavior” and he “just can’t imagine why you would do this.”

Kids Unlimited owner John David Dawkins said in a statement that Jones and Caldwell were “immediately terminated” from their positions at the school.

Both women appeared before a judge and have been released from the Newberry County Jail, officials said.