Teacher pinned down 4-year-old boy, then slapped him more than 10 times, warrant says

A daycare teacher upset with a 4-year-old’s behavior is accused of straddling him on the floor and slapping him more than 10 times while they were in a playroom, according to a warrant.

The teacher, identified as Tracy Ludwig, 36, of Lake Worth, also is accused of pinching the boy on his neck several times when he failed to stop kicking.

The incident occurred at Little Country Daycare Preschool at 900 School House Road in Haslet.

“When my husband asked about the scratches, he was told that he (son) had scratched himself,” said Kindsie Long Andreason of Newark, the boy’s mother, in a Monday telephone interview. “Then when I asked about it, I was told that his jacket caused the marks.”

But Andreason said she and other daycare officials viewed a video, which showed an assault on her son.

“I had had my middle son here in 2016 with no problems,” Andreason said. “And we put him (toddler son) here at the start of the year, and we had never had any problems.”

Ludwig was arrested on Nov. 9 after investigators with the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office viewed the video and conducted interviews.

Ludwig posted bail shortly after her arrest and faces a charge of injury to a child.

She could not be reached Monday.

“We are cooperating fully with the investigation,” said Little Country owner Brenda Ward Monday in a telephone interview. She declined to make any other comments.

The warrant obtained by the Star-Telegram on Monday gave this brief account of the incident:

Paul Andreason picked up his son on Nov. 6 after he received a call from the school saying his son had been “written up” for misbehaving.

His parents noticed scratches, red marks and abrasions around their son’s face and neck. His parents believed the marks had come from rough play with other kids.

The injuries to his neck and face were more pronounced on Nov. 7.

When Kindsie Andreason picked up her son on Nov. 8, a staff member alerted her that her son had been assaulted, according to the warrant.

Kindsie Andreason confronted the owner about the allegations, who showed Andreason a 10-minute video of the incident. Each room is equipped with surveillance cameras.

“She (owner) acted as though she had never seen the video,” Andreason said. “They all apologized.”

Andreason then contacted authorities.

Andreason has since taken her son out of the daycare.

This story was originally published November 19, 2018 at 1:25 PM.