Barry County day care worker arrested for child abuse

BARRY COUNTY, Mo. — A Cassville woman has been arrested following an incident at a day care on Thursday, July 31.

According to online court dockets, Brittney Lassiter, born 1993, has been charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child creating substantial risk and fourth-degree assault.

The probable cause statement says that a Barry County Sheriff's Office deputy responded to a location in Shell Knob for an alleged child abuse.

The deputy spoke to a witness who reported their 20-month-old daughter was picked up by a day care employee and thrown on the ground, the statement says.

The witness provided a video to the deputy, which showed the infant crawling out of a sleeping cot.

Lassiter walked toward the victim and lifted her by an arm and leg past the suspect's knees, approximately two feet in the air. Lassiter threw the infant face down on the cot, and the baby began crying as the woman said, "Do not move again," as she covered the victim with a blanket.

The deputy spoke to Lassiter in a post-Miranda interview, where she admitted to getting frustrated by the infant during nap time and that she did toss them face down on the cot.

Lassiter is currently in Barry County Jail with a $15,000 bond.