Day Care Worker Admits to Pulling a 1-Year-Old Child’s Hair So Hard She Left a Bald Spot

FotoDuets/iStock

The presence of video cameras recording every interaction between children and their caregivers is a relatively new trend. In the past, parents searched for injuries, questioned their children, presented evidence to the day care and hoped that their child care provider treated their kids properly afterward. Today, cameras help provide more assurance that caregivers are behaving properly. But in the case of one Kentucky day care worker, the cameras didn’t stop her from abusing a child in 4K. 

Police arrested 24-year-old Kesha Cochran and charged her with criminal abuse in the first degree, according to a statement published March 12, 2025, on the Leitchfield Police Department’s Facebook page. Authorities became involved when someone reported that a 1-year-old had been injured at a day care. Authorities determined the nature of the injuries were “suspicious” and began investigating. They didn’t have to search too hard. Surveillance video revealed exactly what had transpired. 

In the video, Cochran is monitoring a group of small children. Eventually, she approaches the victim and pulls the child’s hair. The 1-year-old began “screaming uncontrollably,” the police statement notes. Afterward, Cochran throws something in the trash. Officers believe it was the child’s hair. The toddler had a bald spot of at least 6 centimeters. 

Officers brought Cochran to the police station, where she admitted to pulling the child’s hair so hard she removed it from the scalp. She told police that she did so intentionally. Upon her arrest, police took her to the Grayson County Detention Center, K105 reported.

Court records did not state how Cochran pleaded to the charges or whether she had an attorney, according to People. Cochran was set to be arraigned March 13. The investigation is ongoing. 

Although police did not release the name of the day care, Facebook comments from community members seem to believe the incident took place at a day care center named Play Zone. One person claimed that this is not the first time Cochran has exhibited violent and even racist behavior at work. This same person alleged that the day care heard about her alarming behavior two years ago and did not act.

Some commenters shared how the story served as confirmation of the fears parents have when choosing child care. “This is why I’m terrified to trust daycares to watch my children,” another Facebook user wrote. “We live in a world where both parents need to work to be financially stable and if you don’t have a village that lives locally you have no choice but to pick strangers and hope for the best…”

Others discussed how they would have responded if their child had been the victim of this abuse. “I would definitely be rocking the orange jumpsuit if this was my child !!” one commenter shared.