AUSTIN, Texas — The YMCA of Central Texas is now facing a lawsuit after a teacher who worked at a Pflugerville ISD day care program allegedly choked multiple children on separate occasions.
The lawsuit claims that Geraline Wilson Browning, a day care worker for the YMCA, chased a 2-year-old boy around before placing her hands on him. It also claims that there are multiple other instances on surveillance that show Browning doing the same to other children.
KVUE first reported on April 10 that police were investigating Browning for incidents involving "inappropriate physical redirection" of children in her care at the YMCA Childcare Development Center at Northwest Elementary School, a facility that is part of a partnership between Pflugerville ISD and the YMCA to provide child care for full-time district staff members.
Pflugerville ISD said while checking video for an unrelated request, staff discovered footage of one of the alleged incidents involving Browning. Browning was removed from the classroom and families were notified.
After discovering the initial video, district staff continued to review all classroom footage, revealing additional incidents involving Browning. All incidents were reported to law enforcement.
Now court documents are painting a clearer picture of what Browning is accused of.
Five arrest warrants for Browning, all for third-degree felony injury of a child, detail incidents in February 2024 where Browning allegedly choked multiple children in her care.
The initial reported incident involved video taken on Feb. 21 that allegedly showed Browning grab a girl by her arm and later grab the same girl by her neck, shaking her twice. The court documents show when the investigating officer spoke with that child's mother, the mother didn't remember an incident on Feb. 21, but said her daughter told her that her body hurt on Feb. 20 and said, "there have been multiple incidents when [the girl] has come home and had bruises and unexplained marks on her," according to the documents.
The investigating officer said they scheduled an in-person meeting with Browning for March 6, which Browning agreed to. However, Browning did not show up for the interview and has not responded to any of the officer's additional attempts to contact her.
On March 18, the investigating officer was informed by Pflugerville ISD that additional videos had been discovering showing alleged violence by Browning against other children.
A video taken on Feb. 7 allegedly showed Browning grab a girl around the neck and chest and carry her to a napping area before laying her face-down on a mat. Another video taken on Feb. 12 allegedly showed Browning grab a child by their neck and scold them while holding their neck for six seconds.
Videos taken on Feb. 20 allegedly showed Browning grab a child by the neck from behind, spin them around 180 degrees and force them to the floor before walking off. Later the same day, Browning allegedly grabbed that same child by the neck and collarbone with both hands before aggressively placing them on the floor, then grabbing them off the floor from underneath their arms and aggressively placing them on a chair, according to the documents.
The same day, additional video showed Browning allegedly walk into that same child, causing them to fall down and hit their head on a cabinet. Browning walked away without checking on the child and later, video showed Browning yank the same child by the arm off a bathroom stool and place them on the floor, according to the documents.