ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. (KTVI) — A daycare video of a child thrown across a room like a ragdoll went viral when FOX 2 first exposed it in 2019.
Wilma Brown had pleaded not guilty and denied responsibility until Friday, May 13, 2022.
Even when investigators showed her the video of herself, Brown was documented as saying, “That’s not what happened.” Brown tried to explain the injury to the 3-year-old child’s head and the required surgical staples by writing a note to the parents saying, “She fall.”
Brown then went into hiding after she was charged with felony child abuse. North County Cooperative Police officers later caught her.
Years later, she pleaded guilty to felony child abuse. She must serve a minimum of five years behind bars under Missouri’s child abuse statute.
St. Louis County Prosecutor spokesman Chris King was in the courtroom.
“We saw in court today, this defendant struggled a little bit to say, ‘Yes, I did this horrible thing,'” he said. “Guilty pleas are made possible by good detective work and good prosecutor work. We were going to trial on Monday. If we didn’t have a case, we wouldn’t have a guilty plea. By admitting guilt, that’s an important step along the way to turning her life around.”
Brown was allowed to leave court Friday and will turn herself into authorities June 20. She had no comment for FOX 2.
Brown’s assault happened at a north St. Louis County center that, at the time, was called Brighter Day Care and Preschool. Missouri regulators revoked the center’s license after the assault.
Today, the location is open under a different name. The center’s attorney told FOX 2 that the new center is “a separate and distinct entity.”