Second daycare teacher convicted of cruelty in "baby fight club"
MANASSAS, Va. -- A second daycare teacher has been convicted of child cruelty and other counts for abusive behavior toward a classroom of 2-year-olds that a prosecutor described as a "baby fight club."
Twenty-six-year-old of Woodbridge was convicted on six counts Thursday after a two-week jury trial in Prince William County. A judge threw out convictions on three counts and she was acquitted on fourteen others.
Teacher Sarah Jordan was previously found guilty on similar charges. At Jordan's trial, prosecutor Ashleigh Landers likened the daycare class to a "baby fight club" inflicting suffering for the teachers' amusement.
Two other teachers in the classroom testified that Spriggs systemically mistreated the toddlers, including encouraging twin sisters to fight. One teacher testified that Spriggs fed a Flamin' Hot Cheeto to a toddler.
In January, parents spoke with CBS affiliate WUSA after Jordan's verdict. They were overcome with tears of joy. Blake Buckner had a son that was placed under Jordan's care and said he was forced to fight.
"The teacher was making him the class bully made to fight. It was hard to hold back tears, emotional, it was very deep," Buckner said. "She knows what she did. Justice has prevailed."
Jordan's bond was revoked immediately after the verdict and she will be jailed pending her sentencing May 6.
Her attorney, Adrian Showells, noted that Jordan still has the right to appeal her conviction but otherwise declined comment.
Family members of the abused children patted each other on the back and wept in relief as the judge read the verdicts in January. A lawyer representing many of the families, James J. McCoart III, said Jordan's actions were "not only... cruel and traumatic, but outrageous criminal conduct on our community's most vulnerable."
The allegations against Jordan, and Spriggs first surfaced in a 2013 report from the Virginia Department of Social Services.
According to state documents, Jordan and Spriggs physically and emotionally abused the children for entertainment.
The report found the women encouraged toddlers to fight and dunked children afraid of water into wading pools. It also found the women laughed about feeding kids Flamin' Hot Cheetos.