Daycare (illustrative)
Daycare (illustrative)iStock

The Rehovot Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning indicted a daycare provider with abusing a helpless individual and a minor.

The daycare provider, Tzipora David, is from the moshav Beit Oved in central Israel. In the indictment, she was charged with two incidents of physically and verbally abusing a baby in her care.

David "acted with cruelty, terrorizing and humiliating the baby," the court said.

Attorney Yaron Forer, who is representing David, said: "The prosecution decided to respond with excess severity. Over the course of the year, my client has expressed sorrow and regret for her actions. We are aware of the fact that these actions are not simple, but at the same time she has undergone a very difficult period, both due to the embarrassment and due to the shaming on social media."

David was videotaped slapping an 11-month-old baby, throwing him on the couch and carpet, and placing a towel over his face and suffocating him. Later, she went out to smoke, leaving him alone.

After the arrest, the baby's father told Kan 11 News about his son's unusual behavior. "He used to wave even to people he didn't know. With this daycare provider, over time, that became unusual."

"He didn't want to go to her. The moment he saw her or even heard her, he became very agitated. There were times even before that that we would come home and find he had a bruise. We said, 'Okay, he's a kid.' The grandmother sent a video clip of him, and he was really sad. He woke up suspicious."