Police say 18-month-old boy abused by Raleigh daycare center worker

A worker at a daycare center has been charged with misdemeanor child abuse in connection with an incident that police said involved an 18-month-old boy.

Officers arrested Tracey Stallings, 46, late Monday, according to county records. She was taken before a magistrate and freed on $3,000 bail, officials said.

Stallings is accused in an incident that police were told happened Oct. 12 at an Appletree Daycare Inc. branch on Old Poole Road. It was reported on Oct. 14, a police spokeswoman said.

Police said that “evidence indicated that she struck and handled the child roughly.”

An arrest warrant does not disclose the name of the child. He was not seriously hurt, the spokeswoman said.

Stallings is listed in arrest records as living at 2416 Canvasback Court in unincorporated Wake County. She was taken into custody about 11 p.m. at 4400 Brockton Drive in Raleigh.

The records also show that she told officials she is unemployed. A person who answered the phone at Appletree’s corporate office on South New Hope Road said none of the company’s officials were at the office Tuesday morning to answer a question about Stallings’ status with the company.

Appletree says on its website that it operates four branches in Raleigh.

Police said their investigation of the incident is continuing.

This story was originally published October 18, 2016 at 11:23 AM with the headline "Police say 18-month-old boy abused by Raleigh daycare center worker."