Two Georgia preschool teachers were arrested for child abuse after parents witnessed horrifying abuse via a live feed of their children's classrooms.
Zeina Alostwani and Soriana Briceno, two teachers at Parker-Chase Preschool in Roswell, Georgia, were arrested and charged with first-degree cruelty to children. The arrest came after a concerned parent contacted authorities about what was going on in their children's 3-year-old classroom on June 3.
Parents at the school have access to check in on their children's classrooms via a livestream. When one 3-year-old's parent did just that, they discovered their children's teachers were openly abusing the kids.
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child) or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.
"That parent reported logging onto the camera system and seeing concerning physical contact between Alostwani and Briceno against several children in the classroom," Roswell Police said in a statement.
Footage of the stream was shared with the media as parents sought to seek justice for their kids. In the footage, which may be difficult for some to watch, Alostwani walks behind one of the children and appears to step on the student's hand. Moments later, she aggressively knees another child in the back.
Her co-teacher's actions were no better. Briceno is on her knees moving through the middle of the circle of kids. She gets in one child's face with apparent attitude while addressing them. She then pushes the forehead of another child back.
Investigators are now going through previous footage of the classroom to determine if additional charges are warranted. Other parents who suspected something was wrong in the classroom have since come forward, so authorities must determine who may be victims.
"It doesn't matter whose child it is," noted Brant Duncan, the parent of one of the children in the classroom, per news station WSB Atlanta.
"It's a child. They're helpless. They're defenseless."
"It was a matter of seconds, and we knew what we had seen was deliberate and my stomach was just in my throat at that point," a parent of one of the victims anonymously shared.
The school's parent company is reportedly conducting an independent investigation of the situation.
