COLUMBUS – A teacher at an East Side preschool faces up to a year and a half in jail for posting video of a fight among more than a dozen young children.
We secured guilty convictions on 14 counts of child endangering against an ex-preschool teacher who filmed and posted a video of children under her care, between the ages of 3 and 5, fighting and hitting each other with shoes as she laughed https://t.co/0KwjIbqdZx pic.twitter.com/X5g9FA3Wbo
— Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein (@CityAttyKlein) June 27, 2019
Following a four-day trial, Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Jarrod Skinner found Chavay Williams guilty of 14 counts of child endangering after she posted the video, captioned “Street Fighters Come to Life,” recorded while she was working as a lead teacher at Playtime Preschool, 1030 Alum Creek Drive, Columbus city attorney Zach Klein said.
Williams, 31, was in charge of two classes of three- to five-year-olds in the playground area of the daycare when the children began fighting and hitting each other while others tried to climb a six-foot fence. Klein says Williams posted a one-minute video of the scene online, embellishing it with cartoon boxing gloves and laughing- and smiley-face emojis while she and another person laughed in the background.
Williams, who also goes by the name Chavay Jessie, was originally charged with a total of 21 first degree misdemeanor counts and Skinner delivered guilty verdicts on 14 of them, Klein said.
Williams could be sentenced to up to 18 months in jail. Her sentencing is scheduled for August 5, Klein said.