Lexington PD: Daycare employee facing additional charges after investigation into assaults of children

Breanna Marie Audette
Image: Lexington Police Dept.

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO)– The Lexington Police Department provided an update on their investigation into a daycare employee accused of assaulting children in her care.

Authorities say the investigation began on July 12, 2021, when investigators received a report from the facility administrator of Harvest Daycare, saying an employee was alleged to have assaulted children in her care. After reviewing security footage of the daycare, detectives determined that 23-year-old Breanna Marie Audette assaulted several children by grabbing them on the arm, neck and face aggressively and even pushed a child to the ground.

Police say Audette was first arrested back on July 15, 2021 and charged with 14 counts of unlawful conduct towards a child.

Investigators say they obtained additional footage from the daycare, in which they saw more incidents involving Audette assaulting children between June 1-12, 2021. Investigators say they saw her grabbing children by the neck, throat or face. Additionally, authorities say she was seen picking up children violently by their arms and legs. They say there were also multiple incidents where Audette threw a child into the corner of a room.

Authorities say the victims involvd in this investigation range from 10-months-old to

Authorities say they arrested Audette once again on August 6 and charged her with 35 additional counts of unlawful conduct towards a child. In total she, she faces 49 counts of the charge. She was taken to the Lexington County Detention Center and was given restrictions of having no contact with the victims or their families, and she can not have unsupervised contact with children. Additionally, officails say she must follow the Department of Social Service’s plan for her own children.