Miami-Dade camp counselors accused of holding 9-year-old camper by his ankles and slapping him, investigators say

Two summer camp counselors were accused of abusing a 9-year-old camper after an intervention in a fight, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office. 

Antoinette McKay, 50, and Zaccheus Scott, 34, are accused of child abuse at the Cultivating Minds of Brilliance Visions summer camp program.

The camp is run out of St. Peter's Missionary Baptist Church on Southwest 107th Avenue in West Perrine. Officials noted the summer camp is not affiliated with the church and only rents the space.

According to a MDSO vulnerable victims detective, the incident occurred after the counselors pulled the 9-year-old boy away from a fight that broke out while he was playing football with his siblings. 

"Instead of basically separating the children and, you know, disciplining them in the sense of, 'Hey, you guys go to timeout,' it was more of an antagonizing to the younger sibling," said Detective Lauren Garcia of the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office Vulnerable Victims Unit. "You know, 'Defend yourself against the older one. Don't let somebody talk to you like that.'"

According to arrest reports, the victim told detectives that Scott placed large orange traffic cones over his head, making it difficult for him to breathe.

Detectives said the abuse escalated after that.

"One of them held the victim down by his ankles while the other camp counselor stood over him, screaming at him, profanities, threatened to step on him, and then actually physically slapped him several times," Garcia said.

Suspects appeared in bond court, where defense atttorney disputes allegations

Both defendents appeared in bond court, where their defense attorney argued that the arrest forms do not tell the whole story and left out many things that do not add up.

"The supervision there... would say after the incident, the father continued bringing the children there for four days, and somehow four days later this became the instructors who committed this act," Weisman said.

Despite the defense's claims, Garcia said investigators found the victim's account was consistent with statements provided by his three siblings who witnessed the incident.

"You're entrusting these adults to watch after your kids," Garcia said. "You should always check in with your kids and make sure that's in fact what's happening, that they're being taken care of."

CBS News Miami reached out to the summer camp program for comment but had not received a response.

The church said the summer camp is not affiliated with St. Peter's Missionary Baptist Church and only rents space at the facility.