A Des Moines childcare teacher lost her job and her right to unemployment benefits after security footage confirmed she dragged her own daughter across a classroom floor by the arms.
Shelbie Sutton worked at New Horizon Academy, a Des Moines childcare center, from February 2025 until her firing on April 22, 2026. A parent witnessed Sutton drag a young girl across the classroom by her arms, take the child into a bathroom where the parent heard Sutton yelling expletives at her, then drag the child back across the classroom the same way. The parent reported what she saw to the school’s director.
Security Footage and Two Teacher Accounts Corroborated the Complaint
New Horizon Academy investigated by reviewing security-camera footage, interviewing Sutton, and speaking with two teachers who were present in the classroom. All three sources corroborated the parent’s account. When questioned, Sutton confirmed the child was her own daughter and said the girl had been acting out.
The academy fired Sutton for violating its corporal punishment policy. The school defines corporal punishment to include rough handling and pulling arms. Employees whose children attend the academy sign a contract agreeing to follow all conduct policies as they apply to their own children, not just other students.
Sutton filed for unemployment benefits. On June 24, 2026, Administrative Law Judge Stephanie Adkisson held a hearing and denied the claim. Adkisson found the corroborating evidence sufficient and noted that Sutton did not dispute the underlying allegations.
“Parents entrust the employer to teach and care for their students and have an expectation that all children will be treated in accordance with employer policies prohibiting mistreatment of children, no matter whether that employee is the parent of the child.”
Administrative Law Judge Stephanie Adkisson, ruling on unemployment claim, June 24, 2026
Under Iowa Code §96.5, workers fired for misconduct connected to their employment are disqualified from unemployment benefits. Adkisson’s ruling confirms that in Iowa, childcare employees are held to the same conduct standards with their own children as with any child in their care.
Iowa childcare centers are licensed by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. State regulations require licensed centers to maintain written corporal punishment prohibitions and to document incidents of alleged child mistreatment.
What You Can Do Now
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Contact Iowa HHS childcare licensing through the Iowa HHS contact page at hhs.iowa.gov and ask whether this incident was reported to the state licensing office and whether any licensing action was taken against New Horizon Academy.
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Call your Iowa state legislators using the directory at legis.iowa.gov/lawmakers and ask them to require licensed childcare centers to notify Iowa HHS whenever a staff member is terminated for physical mistreatment of a child, not just when the child is not the employee’s own.
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If you witness suspected mistreatment at a licensed Iowa childcare facility, you can report it to Iowa HHS via the child abuse hotline at 1-800-362-2178. Iowa law requires licensed centers to report internally, but any member of the public may also report directly to the state.
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Ask your Iowa legislators to clarify whether Iowa’s mandatory child abuse reporting law, Iowa Code §232.69, applies to childcare staff who witness a coworker physically mistreat a coworker’s child on school premises. Current law names childcare workers as mandatory reporters, but court and agency rulings on intra-family incidents in professional settings remain limited.
Sources
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Teacher Loses Job and Unemployment Benefits Over Treatment of Her Own Child
Iowa Legislature: Iowa Code §96.5, Disqualification from Unemployment Benefits for Misconduct
Iowa Legislature: Iowa Code §232.69, Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse
Iowa HHS: Child Care Licensing Requirements and Corporal Punishment Prohibition Standards