Former Stone Mountain Daycare Worker Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Child Cruelty
DECATUR, Ga. — Sherry Boston announced a guilty plea and sentence in a child abuse case involving a former daycare worker at a Stone Mountain facility.
On Friday, 79-year-old Cherretta Hull entered a non-negotiated guilty plea to 19 counts of Cruelty to Children in the First Degree. LaTisha Dear Jackson sentenced Hull to 30 years, with 20 years to be served in confinement.
The case stems from a June 22, 2022 investigation launched after a parent reported finding injuries on their child’s face. Detectives reviewed three days of surveillance footage from inside the daycare, which prosecutors said revealed repeated abuse involving multiple children.
According to investigators, the footage showed Hull pinching, slapping, and punching babies with a closed fist. She was also seen roughly handling children by slamming them onto changing tables, tossing them into cribs, dropping them, and lifting them by one arm. During mealtimes, Hull was recorded aggressively feeding children by shoving food and bottles into their mouths and striking babies with full bottles.
Three other defendants previously entered guilty pleas in the case on August 14, 2024:
- Alexis Renee Swain pleaded guilty to 29 counts of Cruelty to Children in the First Degree and was sentenced to 10 years, with 5 years to be served in custody. The State had recommended 20 years with 15 to serve.
- Cori Chambers pleaded guilty to 5 counts of Cruelty to Children in the First Degree and received 10 years of probation, including 120 days of house arrest and 80 hours of community service.
- Cassandra Artis Chambers, the daycare director, pleaded guilty to one count of Failure to Report Suspected Child Abuse and was sentenced as part of the plea agreement.
Prosecutors said surveillance footage showed Swain and Cori Chambers hitting, pushing, shaking, and slamming children onto floors, cots, and changing tables. Authorities alleged that Cassandra Chambers reviewed the footage herself but failed to report the abuse, despite daycare personnel being mandated reporters under Georgia law.
The charges involved 13 alleged victims ranging in age from 6 months to nearly 3 years old.
As a condition of their sentences, all four defendants are prohibited from caring for children in any commercial or in-home setting, except for their own relatives.
The case was prosecuted by the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office Child Crimes Unit.
