A 39-year-old store clerk in George is facing charges after she whipped an 8-year-old boy with a belt at least 25 times for being unruly in the store, according to ABC News.
Last week police arrested Emilia Graciela Bell who works at the Dollar General store in Wrightsville and charged her with aggravated assault. Bell, who admitted that she beat the boy, was caught on store surveillance cameras whipping the child and even bringing him down to the ground, police say. On Monday, investigators bumped up the charges to cruelty to children after finding additional footage of the incident.
The victim, Logan Ivey, came to the store with his mother and apparently separated from her as she was shopping. Bell said she hit the child after he became unruly in the store and threw batteries and cookies at her. Police say the boy tried to hide behind the store counter as Bell pursued him with the belt.
"She had him on the floor at one point. It was pretty bad, looking on the video," Wrightsville Police Assistant Sheriff Bill Thompson told ABC News.
Bell has posted $5,000 bail and is awaiting trial at the Georgia Superior Court, police said.
"It's just heart breaking to me that it happened to me just two days before my own birthday," said Logan during a taped interview that can be seen below.
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