Chilling reason behind little boy's bruises as he's left battered on first day of nursery

A Georgia nursery worker was arrested and charged with aggravated battery and child abuse last month after allegedly attacking a one year old pupil on his first day then blaming another child.

Yvette Thurston, 54, left the child with scratches on his face and neck and a black eye after the school day at Little Blessings Child Care in Bainbridge.

Clay Weeks' parents were initially told that another child had caused the injuries using a plastic toy, but when his father watched security footage of the incident, he discovered Thurston had been responsible. Thurston was taken to the Decatur County Jail on August 11 on charges of first-degree aggravated battery and three counts of first-degree child abuse, police said.

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A bond was set for $44,000, which jail records show was paid, according to WCTV, reports the Mirror US.

The nursery is affiliated with the Bainbridge Church of God, according to the daycare's social media page. The state issued an emergency closure order for the nursery, and Little Blessings did not appeal the order. It will be closed until September 21.

Thurston was sacked from her position, according to the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning.

Images released by Weeks' family showed his right eye with dark bruising and several lacerations across his face and neck.

He was taken to the hospital and treated for his injuries, and "received the best care while we were there," his father said. In a Facebook post following the August incident, Weeks' father, Cory Weeks, said of the video surveillance footage that "nothing we saw was for the faint-hearted, especially happening to such an innocent soul."

The Mirror US has contacted the Bainbridge chief of police for additional information.

"If you're given an incident report or you received a call from a daycare facility or that something happened, ask to see exactly how it happened," Cory Weeks warned in a statement to WCTV. "Because we were lied to on how it happened. And I almost accepted that," he said.

"To watch it, it was concerning," he said. "Doing that to someone who can't even talk back, it was his first day, he had never been away from me and his mom."

Weeks' parents speculated in the Facebook post that Thurston may have inflicted similar acts of violence against students in the past due to the 'severity' of her 'acts of violence' against their son.