North Carolina couple viewed their nanny cam as their babysitter forced their toddler to eat while they cried.
Declan Oglesby’s stepfather, Max Oglesby and his wife Laura Oglesby were shocked to see Lauren Rowe shoveling food into Declan’s mouth as she cared for him at their New Bern home on Tuesday night.
Declan screams for help in the footage. Rowe holds his wrists behind a high chair and shoves chicken pot pie bites into Declan’s mouth. Rowe then closes Declan’s eyes. He yells ‘No!’ He yells No!’ over and over.
They shared the footage to Facebook, and police notified Rowe. Rowe was then arrested and charged with misdemeanor abuse of children.
Laura Oglesby’s stepmother wrote that Rowe’s arrest had left her feeling emotionally drained.
‘Our main goal now is to make sure this sticks to her like glue so she can’t ever do this sort of thing to a child, dog, or person in general ever again.’
Max Oglesby stated that the footage he uploaded to social media was only a small portion of the two-hour-long film. [Rowe]We spent this time with our son.
Max stated that he wasn’t there. ‘S*** hurts.’
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Declan screams and kicks in pain as Rowe holds Declan’s wrists behind his highchair, shoves a piece of pot pie into his mouth, then closes his mouth. He yells ‘No!’ He yells ‘No!’ and yells ‘Daddy’ repeatedly.
Lauren Rowe can be seen keeping the child’s mouth closed after stuffing food into it.
Lauren Rowe (pictured below) was taken into custody for misdemeanor child cruelty late Wednesday night. The arrest came after Declan, 2,’s parents shared the disturbing footage to Facebook. New Bern Police notified authorities
Father Max Oglesby (pictured right) and Laura Oglesby (pictured holding Declan).
Oglesby wrote that the couple had made the difficult decision to hire a babysitter for a few days each weeks while they were renovating their bar in Washington, North Carolina. After taking a break to paint the floors, Oglesby checked the footage from their nanny cam and started recording.
The pair raced to get to the car and called the boy’s birth mother, who lives near them, to take them to their home while they traveled.
‘I wanted to kick her a**,’ said Laura Oglesby, the boy’s stepmother, to WITN-TV.
“I wanted her to come here and put her down, and I wanted to feed her.”
The footage shows Rowe telling someone on the telephone that if Rowe didn’t control his two-year old, he would walk all across us.
Laura sent the nanny footage she had taken of the abuse after the incident. A text message was also sent to the nanny, but it never received a response.
She wrote, “You are no longer required to nanny for our children. My suggestion is that you stop nannying until you have learned how to be patient with children.”
“The way Declan was handled tonight in the highchair trying to force-feed him is child abuse.
Max Oglesby and Laura Oglesby, his wife, raced home as they saw the abuse unfolding through their surveillance camera
Laura sent the footage and a text to the nanny after the incident. The nanny never responded.
In the clip, the nanny tells the child repeated to ‘eat his food’ as he weeps, telling him that he can only get down from his high chair once he’s ‘taken a bite.’
In the clip, she shouts out at the child, ‘We are learning today.’ ‘You need learn to eat your meals before we can get on with our lives.
Max stated that Max’s son was left with bruises on his arms after the encounter.
‘You don’t expect it to happen to yours,’ said Max told the Sun Journal.
‘[Rowe]My wife was recommended to me by a Facebook group for New Bern moms. She’s done a freaking check on freakingcare.com. I feel like we made the right decisions.
DailyMail.com was unable to reach Care.com for comment.
The post has received more than 2,300 comments, and 5,300 shares on Facebook.
Rowe was released following posting a $2,500 secured bail, according to WITN-TV. Her next court date is November 8th.
Her bond was posted within 30 minutes of her arrest. She has two additional court dates, according to the Sun: one on Nov. 19, for speeding and reckless driving; and another on December 2, for driving a vehicle without a valid registration.