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\nThursday afternoon, former employee of First Baptist Church in Bowling Green, Maranya Shobe, pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of third-degree criminal abuse against a child 12 or under.<\/p>\n
\nThursday afternoon, former employee of First Baptist Church in Bowling Green, Maranya Shobe, pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of third-degree criminal abuse against a child 12 or under.<\/p>\n
This comes after an anonymous complaint against the church\u2019s daycare in February from parents alleging their child had been abused.<\/p>\n
After reviewing surveillance footage, District Court Judge Brent Potter and the County Attorney\u2019s Office found 10 incidents that appeared to be criminal, involving seven different juveniles identified as victims of the abuse.<\/p>\n
The citation from Judge Potter detailed the incidents, saying Shobe is seen carrying children across the room by one arm, while their feet are off the floor, placing them at risk of injuries to the arms, shoulders or elbows.<\/p>\n
Judge Potter also included in the citation there were multiple occasions where Shobe appeared to intentionally walk on them, striking the child with her leg or abdominal area, causing them to fall to the ground.<\/p>\n
Through an investigation of First Baptist Church, it was revealed this is not an isolated incident.<\/p>\n
In January of 2023, a different employee was at the center of an investigation by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.<\/p>\n
It was confirmed the employee roughly picked up a 23-month-old child who was sleeping and began swinging her back and forth trying to wake her up.<\/p>\n
The child cried throughout the incident and the employee did not comfort her.<\/p>\n
The report stated the employee was of an old-school philosophy, but realized their actions were not appropriate. The employee was later fired.<\/p>\n
First Baptist Church has confirmed the Director of Child Ministries during the time of the incident is no longer employed with the church, following an administrative leave.<\/p>\n
Shobe\u2019s pre-trial conference is set for Thursday, July 11 at 9 a.m.
\nSource: WBKO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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