BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Capital area authorities claim a Head Start employee physically abused a small child on the job, and a warrant for the employee’s arrest has been secured.

According to public records with the City of Baton Rouge, Keyayra Treynae Clay, 28, faces one count of cruelty to juveniles (felony) for allegedly assaulting a 3-year-old under her care while she was an employee of the Freeman Matthews Head Start program.

Records say the alleged abuse occurred around Jan. 5 and refer to a video of the incident, which reportedly shows Clay slapping the back of the child’s head and then kicking the 3-year-old while the child was seated.

The official document, which was completed by a member of the Baton Rouge Police Department, goes on to say, “The victim then lifted a book to hide from the defendant which the defendant slapped from the victim’s hands, hitting the victim as it was slapped down from the victim’s hands.”

The City of Baton Rouge issued the following statement regarding the case:

Upon learning of the incident through an inquiry by DCFS, EBR Head Start immediately sent the staff person home, contacted law enforcement and began its own administrative investigation. The individual is no longer employed with EBR Head Start. EBR Head Start has zero tolerance for abuse and neglect. This incident does not reflect the values and mission of EBR Head Start, to provide a safe and nurturing environment for our students and families.

Mark Armstrong, Chief Communications Officer of the City of Baton Rouge