A 54-year-old daycare worker, Yvette Thurston, has been arrested in Georgia on charges of child abuse after a toddler in her care was left with a black eye, swollen face, and cuts on his very first day at a church childcare facility.

The incident happened at Little Blessings Child Care in Bainbridge, near the Florida border. Thurston now faces three counts of first-degree child abuse and one count of first-degree aggravated battery.

The child’s father, Cory Weeks, a U.S. Marine, shared photos of his 1-year-old son, Clay, on Facebook, showing the boy’s badly injured face. Weeks wrote that he and his wife had just enrolled Clay and his older brother Wyatt, 3, at the daycare that day.

At first, the parents were told that another child had caused the injuries with a plastic toy. But Weeks later obtained video surveillance footage, which he said clearly showed Thurston attacking his son.

“This is every parent’s worst nightmare, and we had to live it and are still living it,” Weeks wrote. “Nothing we saw was for the faint-hearted, especially happening to such an innocent soul.”

He added that the level of violence suggested this might not have been the worker’s first time hurting a child. “We trusted this facility to care and love our kids, and on their first day that trust was violated,” he said, vowing to pursue justice so “nothing is swept under the rug.”

Clay was treated at Memorial Hospital and Manor for his injuries.

The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) confirmed that Thurston has been terminated from the daycare and said they are working closely with law enforcement to ensure a full investigation.

The case remains under active investigation by Decatur County authorities.