VENANGO CO., Pa. (EYT) – Child endangerment charges against a local woman accused of abusing young children at the Child Development Center in Franklin were waived for court on Wednesday afternoon.

According to court documents, the following charge against 39-year-old Lisa Beth Crawford, of Polk, was waived for court during a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, May 24, in Venango County Central Court.

– Endangering Welfare of Children – Parent/Guardian/Other Commits Offense, Misdemeanor 1

Her case has been transferred to the Court of Common Pleas.

Details of the case:

According to a criminal complaint, the Franklin Police Department received a CYS 104 form on October 25 alleging that Lisa Crawford, a teacher at the Child Development Center on Liberty Street in Franklin, Venango County, had injured two students.

The referral source stated that on October 21, a mother observed a mark on her child’s stomach when the child arrived home. The child informed her mother that Crawford caused the injury, the complaint states.

Surveillance footage was provided to police, which shows Crawford picking up and forcibly slamming a four-year-old female child into a chair to make the child sit down, according to the complaint.

The referral source further stated that Crawford was observed “aggressively grabbing” the female victim’s arm to move her from one location to another, the complaint indicates.

Crawford was then seen grabbing both ankles of a four-year-old male victim and dragging him across the carpet, causing the child to sustain an abrasion, the complaint states.

It was noted in the complaint that the referral source stated Crawford was terminated after the video footage was observed.

On October 26, officers contacted the referral source, who informed police that on Friday, October 21, one student’s mother called after she had discovered an abrasion to her son’s stomach, and her son told her (the abrasion) was “from his teacher Lisa at school,” the complaint notes.

The complainant stated there weren’t any incident reports documenting incidents that had occurred that day where he might have received an injury, so she reviewed video surveillance footage, which was delayed by several days due to IT issues, the complaint states.

The complainant stated that when she was able to gain access to the video surveillance footage on October 25, she viewed Lisa Crawford causing injury to one child and “severely” and “inappropriately mishandling” a second child, causing her to terminate the employee, according to the complaint.

The complainant then filed a ChildLine Report as a mandated reporter.

Officers then reviewed the video footage from the Child Development Center Tiger Room on October 21.

Documentation was noted of the following events/interactions that had taken place by Lisa Crawford involving the children:

Start time, 11:58 a.m.

12:00:40 – Crawford grabs the female child by arm pushing her over toward the table.
12:00:55 – The female child sat at the table.
12:00:57 – Crawford marches over and picks the female child up out of the chair and forcibly sits her down in a chair beside the chair she had been sitting in at the table, appearing to be yelling at her.
12:02:25 – Crawford slaps a male child’s hand behind her while she is cleaning a table.
12:03:43 – Crawford rolls a child over onto his back who was on the floor, apparently yelling at him after the lights were turned out during rest time.
12:06:37 – Crawford bends over a little girl who was lying on the rug, unknown why talking to her.
12:06:56 – Crawford picks up the little girl from the rug, and escorts her over to another rug, where the girl sits down.
12:07:06 – Crawford moves the little girl over on the rug by laying her down on the rug.
12:08:13 – Crawford marches over and bends over a male child apparently yelling at him who was laying on the rug.
12:08:59 – The male child, who is lying on the floor on his stomach, is then grabbed by his ankles and dragged backward on his stomach to move him, where he apparently sustains his abrasion to his stomach area.
12:10:05 – The video ended.

Charges were filed against Crawford on January 12.