Former midstate day care worker indicted on cruelty to children charges

A former Macon day care worker has been indicted on eight counts of cruelty to children stemming from incidents at Coliseum Child’s Play Inc. last summer.

Karina Anyon Bonner, 31, was arrested Aug. 15, 2016, and released on bond the following day.

The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning conducted an investigation stemming from allegations Bonner had improperly disciplined children.

The center, located on Coliseum Drive, subsequently was fined $499 and evidence was found substantiating complaints Bonner improperly treated children in her care. Though adjacent to Coliseum Medical Centers, the child care center is not affiliated with the hospital.

Video purportedly shows Bonner handling six 4 year olds “roughly,” grabbing them by the arms, faces and ears, slapping a child’s face, squeezing a child’s shoulder, shoving a child into a chair and pushing a chair “forcefully into the table” as a child was seated,” according to a letter sent by the regulatory agency.

A camera also recorded footage of a 4-year-old boy jumping up and down before she grabbed him by the arm, pulled him and jerked him, according to the letter. Bonner has claimed she’d been separating two children from fighting “like big boys” when she grabbed the boy’s arm.

Bonner denied all allegations of abuse in a written statement last summer, saying “I would never hurt my children. … All my parents love me and the way I work with their kids.”

Four lawsuits relating to the allegations still are pending in Bibb County State Court.

This story was originally published September 6, 2017 at 10:02 AM with the headline "Former midstate day care worker indicted on cruelty to children charges."