BRADFORD COUNTY, Fla. — Going to school is supposed to be a memorable experience. For Taylor Williams' four-year-old son, Zach, it has been traumatizing. The mother of two recently withdrew her son from Bradford Preschool. She described her two sons as 'sweet' and always brave to do anything. After attending the day care, the Starke mother said they were timid.
"It breaks my heart," Williams said.
She could not understand why her children were behaving differently, especially the younger brother, Zach. Williams said her son is hyper, but he is not a 'bad kid'. Then it suddenly clicked when a teacher brought forward an allegation of what has been happening at the school.
"I wish I would've gotten them out of there but I just didn't know," Williams sighed.
The same teacher recorded a moment an adult telling a child "I'll put my hand right around your neck and choke slam you." In the video, you can hear a child tell an adult to "stop pulling" them.
"Well, when I tell you to come in don't pull away from me," the adult responded to the child.
Williams said it was her son in the video.
"I've reached out to the director," Williams explained. "I've reached out to the teachers and instead of doing anything about it, they're trying to justify it, making up excuses for it."
Robyn Bryant, an employee at the day care, said the video-recorded incident happened in January. She added how the adult in the video was a parent talking to their child. The parent was a former employee at the day care. Bryant frankly said Williams is lying.
"We do not condone abuse, violence, anything like that," Bryant said.
This is not the first time Bradford Preschool was scrutinized. Florida DCF records showed someone failed to complete training to be around children. The most recent violation was in June of 2021.
"I want some kind of repercussions for the people involved in the abuse," Williams said.
Stark Police Department confirmed with First Coast News, there is an active investigation.