More child abuse allegations linked to Bradford Preschool, second employee charged

STARKE, Fla. — More child abuse allegations have been linked to Bradford Preschool, and a second employee has been charged. Robyn Bryant, the daughter of Bradford Preschool’s owner who’s worked at the facility for several years, now faces four counts of child abuse.

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The charges were filed at the end of August, more than a year after the investigation by Starke Police and Department of Children and Families began.

The warrant said Bryant used “violent” and “threatening” behavior toward children, with allegations dating back to August 2021.

53-year-old Bryant is accused of “throwing a bottle at a child who is sitting on his sleep mat.” The report goes on to say she “forcefully slams the child onto his back, which then caused him to hit his head on the ground.”

Just about a week later, the report said a child was on her sleeping mat when Bryant “places her foot on the mat, and forcefully slides the mat into the wall, causing the girl to hit her head.”

Action News Jax attempted to reach Bryant for comment, without success.

Action News Jax’s Robert Grant asked Bryant for comment in person when the first Bradford Preschool employee was charged in July, but she had no comment.

Police said the new charges were filed after investigators reviewed hours of surveillance footage which they said shows Bryant.

The video has not been released to Action News Jax because it is an active investigation.

It all started when mother Taylor Williams sent cellphone video to police which she claims showed an employee saying, “I’ll chokeslam you” to her son, Zachariah. The video was taped in August of 2021, which led police to find the security cameras.

“It’s just very upsetting that it continued for this long when they had this surveillance video, they had the police report, there was more than one person who came forward,” Williams said.

The Department of Children and Families supended the facility’s license in June. Action News Jax asked why it took the state department so long. We never heard back.