Three Former Daycare Workers Plead Guilty in Georgia Child Abuse Case

Three former employees of the Appletree Learning Center in Stone Mountain have pleaded guilty to charges related to the abuse of children under their care. The guilty pleas come after a lengthy investigation into disturbing allegations of mistreatment at the daycare, which serves some of the youngest members of the DeKalb County community.

The Details: Alexis Renee Swain, 28, pleaded guilty to 29 counts of Cruelty to Children in the First Degree. Cori Chambers, 21, admitted to five counts of the same charge, while Cassandra Artis Chambers, 56, pleaded guilty to one count of Failure to Report Suspected Child Abuse.

The investigation began on June 22, 2022, when a concerned parent reported finding injuries on her child’s face. The DeKalb County Police Department responded by reviewing three days of surveillance footage from inside the daycare. The footage revealed a pattern of physical abuse involving Swain and Cori Chambers, both seen hitting, pushing, and shaking the children, some as young as six months old.

Cassandra Chambers, the director of the daycare, viewed the footage herself but failed to report the abuse, a requirement under Georgia’s mandated reporter law.

TOO MANY ADS? GO AD-FREE
Did You Know?: The ads you see on this site help pay for our website and our work. However, we know some of our readers would rather pay and not see ads. For those users we offer a paid newsletter that contains our articles with no ads.
What You Get: A daily email digest of our articles in full-text with no ads.

The Victims: The charges relate to 13 children, aged between six months and nearly three years old, who were subjected to physical abuse. The emotional and psychological scars from such early childhood trauma are expected to have lasting effects on the victims and their families.

Sentencing: The sentences handed down by DeKalb County Superior Court Chief Judge LaTisha Dear Jackson have sparked outrage among the victims’ families and the prosecution team. Swain, who faced the most severe allegations, was sentenced to 10 years, with five years to be served in custody. This was significantly less than the 20 years to serve 15 that the prosecution recommended. Cori Chambers received 10 years of probation, with the first 120 days under house arrest. Cassandra Chambers was sentenced to 12 months of probation and 80 hours of community service.

All three women are barred from working with children outside of their own relatives as part of their sentencing.

Prosecution Reaction: DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston expressed disappointment with the sentencing, particularly in Swain’s case. “The defendants in this case victimized some of DeKalb County’s most precious residents, many of whom were too young to tell anyone about the abuse they endured,” Boston said. “We are stunned by the injustice of the sentence for Defendant Swain. We feel the sentence is far too short considering the long-term and continuing effects of the abuse these children and their families are suffering.”

What’s Next: A fourth defendant, Cherretta Hull, 78, still faces 19 counts of Cruelty to Children in the First Degree. Her case is pending, with an indictment issued by a DeKalb County Grand Jury on December 19, 2023.

Support local journalism in Georgia by contributing to The Georgia Sun, where our commitment to providing free, accessible news without paywalls sets us apart. Your contribution helps us continue delivering in-depth coverage of the issues that matter most to Georgians. By supporting us, you ensure that stories about your community, your schools, and your local government are reported with accuracy and integrity.

Stand with us in keeping quality journalism alive and accessible for everyone in Georgia. Your support makes a difference.