Mother Argues Daycare Workers Involved in Halloween Mask Incident Should Get Jail Time

The footage of the mask, which is vaguely 'Scream'-inspired, has grown into a national discussion in recent days. The workers have been fired.

October 24, 2022

In one parent’s opinion, the since-fired daycare workers at the center of the ongoing Halloween mask controversy should do time in jail.

Katelyn Johnson, who says her two-year-old was among those scared when a daycare worker in Mississippi donned a Scream-inspired mask, was interviewed by TMZ over the weekend. According to Johnson, her child has exhibited potty-training “regression” following the series of mask-focused incidents.

“I do feel a felony is appropriate,” Johnson, wearing an ‘’I Back the Blue” shirt and stationed in front of an apparent piece of police-promoting wall decor, said. “There was inadequate supervision. They were traumatizing those children and some of those children are old enough to communicate and talk through those feelings and some of ‘em aren’t. And there is no telling with those children being so young when we will see that trauma surface. My son is two years old and he cannot communicate what is going on through his head. He can only tell me through reaction.”

Johnson added that her son has shown a “very strong reaction” to the specific mask used in the widely shared footage, speculating that this level of reaction is due to the alleged frequency of the mask’s usage.

“I would like to see them serve some jail time,” Johnson said, later clarifying that she would want to see those involved serving “anywhere from six months to a year” behind bars.

As previously reported, the masktroversy took off in response to footage captured at Lil’ Blessings Child Care and Learning Center in Hamilton. Local law enforcement announced last week that Sierra McCandless, Oci-Anna Kilburn, Jennifer Newman, and Shyenne Mills were each facing multiple counts of felony child abuse. Traci Hutson, meanwhile, is facing failure to report abuse by a mandatory reporter and simple assault charges.

In a statement shared with Complex via email last week, a rep from the Mississippi State Department of Health confirmed it had finished its investigation into the Lil’ Blessings controversy and passed its findings to the agency attorney.

“The facility remains closed at this time,” the rep added.