Day care worker charged in bomb threat at midstate child care center

A Macon day care worker faces federal charges after being linked to bomb threats at a Macon center.

Jasmine Jaquel Bradley, 26, is charged with interstate bomb threats, threatening interstate communications and conveying false information and perpetuating a hoax against Child Care Network, a day care center on Macon’s Northside Drive, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

If convicted, Bradley could face up to 20 years in prison and up to a $750,000 fine, according to a news release.

Bradley was arrested as part of a probe conducted by the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI looking into multiple bomb threats at Bright Star Learning Centers and Child Care Network.

On Jan. 18, a Bright Star Learning Center employee called 911 to report a bomb threat after receiving a call from someone claiming to be a parent who said there was a bomb threat against the center posted on Facebook, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.

According to the complaint:

Further investigation revealed the person who called the center wasn’t who she claimed to be.

On Jan. 19, a Bright Star employee received another bomb threat, this time by text message.

Then, on Jan. 23, a third threat was received by text message by another Bright star employee.

The message read in part: “Ok, the last 2 times was really a joke but tomorrow i advise you not to open that center.”

Accompanying the message was a photo of what appeared to a time bomb. The picture looked as if it was taken from the internet.

Authorities traced the phone number that sent the Jan. 23 threat using an Internet Protocol number to the McDonald’s on Hartley Bridge Road.

Using a search warrant, the phone number was traced to someone who gave the name “Jasmine” and listed an unverified recovery email address of brightstar19931994@gmail.com.

The investigation later revealed that Bright Star hired Bradley Jan. 16 and one other day care where Bradley had recently been employed also had received a bomb threat.

She was terminated and took a new job at the Child Care Network.

On April 19, Bibb County deputies responded to the Child Care Network location on Northside Drive after the center’s director received a text message.

The message read, “hey, it’s a bomb on side and on top of the building.”

A box with tape, wires and a microchip attached to it was spotted on the center’s property.

Bradley, an employee at the center, told authorities a man had thrown the box over a fence and onto the property before driving off.

The sheriff’s office’s bomb squad determined the box was a “hoax device.”

Monday, a bomb threat was posted to the Child Care Network center’s Facebook page saying a bomb was planted underground three months ago.

It went on to say, “i will blow up every little face in that center tomorrow. … That’s a promise.”

Authorities traced the Facebook post to a Bradley’s cellphone number.

This story was originally published April 27, 2017 at 5:27 PM with the headline "Day care worker charged in bomb threat at midstate child care center."