A former daycare worker at a Marine Corps base in Arizona pleaded guilty to abusing a 1-year-old child in her care by dragging, kicking and throwing toys at her, according to Yuma County court documents.

Valerie McKinstry, 29, was found Wednesday with two felony counts of child abuse for her actions against children at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma from December 2020 to March 2021, according to court documents. He pleaded guilty to 11 misdemeanor counts of endangering a child.

According to the 100-page police report, the classroom in which McKinstry worked with 1-year-olds was under video surveillance, standard practice at the Department of Defense Center for Child Development, and a 78-year-old police officer at the Yuma Police Department. It provided a video of possible book abuse.

McKinstry has been seen in videos in which he repeatedly hits a boy with his own hands, forces a child’s chair against a table, carries a child by his arms or legs only, pushes a chair into a child from behind, and repeatedly rocks a child’s chair. can be Among the many other accusations police have described, they have abused children, banging their bodies against furniture, throwing toys at them, and punching them in the face and body.

No sentencing hearing is scheduled, according to county online court records.

Police identified 15 child victims in a video review, according to the report.

Katherine McCombs, 29, worked with McKinstry and has been charged with seven counts of child abuse, according to online court records. Her case is pending in Yuma County Superior Court.

Police reports have identified a third childcare worker as a suspect, but no charges have been filed at this time, according to court records.

Valerie McKinstry, 29, a day care worker at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, pleaded guilty to child abuse charges for physically harming a 1-year-old child in her care. . She was arrested by the Yuma Police Department on March 2, 2021. (Yuma County Sheriff’s Office)

One parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said her son is still suffering from the abuse he experienced at the hands of McKinstry and McCombs.

“We talked a lot with the teachers about what happened to him and had them build a bond with him,” she said. No, because if you cried or hurt yourself in that classroom, you were jacked up.”

Yuma police arrested McKinstry on March 2, 2021, and MCAS Yuma officials put her on leave the same day, said Capt. Brett Vanier, a spokesman for the base. Her employment officially ended on April 17, 2021.

The base will assign personnel from outside the Child Development Center to review historical video recordings of the past 60 days to “identify and document possible instances of physical abuse, neglect, or other inappropriate caregiver behavior.” We will report it,” said Vannier.

A team of senior leaders then reviewed the report and provided all the evidence to the police, he said.

According to Marine Corps spokeswoman Yvonne Carlock, this is the only case within the Marine Corps where a former employee was indicted and later convicted of child abuse or endangerment in a private court. .

“The Marine Corps has documented child abuse prevention policies and procedures and requires initial and annual in-person training. We are regularly monitored to ensure we are following our policy of positive guidance and appropriate contact,” she said. “We have very low standards for dismissing staff if they are found to be violating these policies.”

Given the abuse, MCAS Yuma now requires curriculum specialists and trainer assistants to review live and recorded video feeds from each classroom weekly, unannounced, Vannier said. . Children and youth program leaders should conduct additional reviews.

Childcare facility staff were required to complete training courses on approximately 26 different subjects, including developmentally appropriate practices, appropriate contact policies and procedures, and child safety.

During the investigation, MCAS Yuma also reviewed about 20 hours of random video samples from each of the daycare’s other classrooms to ensure abuse was not a systemic problem, base officials said. rice field.