Laniecia Smith, 31, is charged with multiple felony counts of child neglect and battery of a minor for incidents that allegedly occurred at Future Leaders Childcare Ministries in the 1000-block of Roosevelt Avenue in Gary. That daycare appeared to be closed on Monday.
Police say Smith, on several occasions, was seen grabbing and hitting 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds while she was on video calls with an inmate at the Porter County Jail. Those communications last month were recorded and reviewed by jail officials.
In court papers, authorities say Smith was "repeatedly seen vaping within feet of the children" and "spending more time on video chats than actually instructing or supervising the children."
In one call, Smith allegedly hit a child, who has autism, with a broom.
In other calls, she was seen allegedly grabbing a child by the ear and smacking another in the head.
And on multiple occasions, Smith was allegedly seen driving with several unrestrained children in the backseat while video chatting and texting.
In the recordings, authorities said, Smith repeatedly called the kids "ugly" and "stupid" during expletive-laden tirades. And in one call, an unknown male at the daycare was allegedly seen dragging a child by the ankle while Smith was heard laughing.
Smith was taken into custody last Tuesday at the Lake County, Indiana Court Building in Crown Point.
She was at a unrelated court proceeding involving her boyfriend when she was taken into custody, Gary police said.
The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration confirmed to ABC7 Chicago that it is investigating the daycare's operator, which runs three locations in Gary.
Messages ABC7 left for that owner were not immediately returned.
Officials say Smith is free on bond. ABC7's attempts to reach her for comment were not successful.