![](/sites/default/files/medias/factchecking/g2/2022-05//54b5423cff4c25e0b6a1ab7b6b33f67f.jpeg)
Child attacked at US daycare in 2018, not by abusive stepmom in South Africa
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on May 31, 2022 at 17:32
- 2 min read
- By Tendai DUBE, AFP South Africa
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
A Facebook post, which has garnered more than 4,100 shares since it was published on May 27, 2022, features pictures of an infant with a badly scratched and bruised face.
“The baby was badly beaten by the Step mother yesterday had beaten up my daughter meslesly almost to death because she peed on the bedsheets she washed 2days ago (sic),” the post’s caption reads.
It adds that the toddler was rushed to the hospital with internal bleeding.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/image_in_article/public/medias/factchecking/g2/2022-05/4cac2191dd72cb3a0f97e93bfc39b3c1.jpeg?itok=_gsaPG4L)
Hundreds of users in the comment section believed the abuse claims in the post and voiced their anger.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/image_in_article/public/medias/factchecking/g2/2022-05/6e1a86f7d3257356ba4683ae88b69223.jpeg?itok=OPLwRK1i)
Another post on a South African Twitter account shared the same photos, saying: “I fail to understand how a woman can beat another woman's child like this.”
![](/sites/default/files/styles/image_in_article/public/medias/factchecking/g2/2022-05/8e2d1bc839bea8de9267ef9a3973bc9d.jpeg?itok=oQ7CP5D7)
“This didn't happen in South Africa it happened at in America the kid was beaten at a Day Care why do you guys like spreading fake news (sic),” wrote one user in response to the tweet on May 28, 2022.
This comment led AFP Fact Check to find US media reports from 2018 featuring the same photos.
Indianapolis daycare investigation
According to US media reports, on May 11, 2018, a one-year-old boy was attacked at an Indianapolis day care centre, leaving him with a scratched and swollen face. The boy’s parents initially thought a worker at the centre may have been behind the attack due to the severity of his wounds.
According to Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry, a medical expert found that the child's injuries were consistent with having been carried out by another child.
No criminal charges were filed but the centre was ordered to cease operations.
AFP Fact Check has previously debunked similar claims involving pictures of injured or sick children to trigger an emotional response that leads to the spread of viral misinformation (here and here).
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us