Trial starts for former Menomonee Falls preschool teacher accused of child abuse

WAUKESHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A jury trial for a former Menomonee Falls preschool teacher accused of mistreating two toddlers in 2022 began Tuesday, May 21.

Madeline Ferguson, 28, faces two felony counts of physical abuse of a child after an alleged incident took place on Sept. 19, 2022, at Cadence Academy Preschool.

On Tuesday, five witnesses took the stand, including the parents of both toddlers who were allegedly hurt by Ferguson.

Surveillance video submitted into evidence on day one of the trial showed Ferguson grabbing two toddlers and dragging them across the room.

"I observed what appeared to be deep scratches on his right neck, and shoulder area," said Menomonee Falls Police Officer Scott Henning.

The criminal complaint states Ferguson hit a 3-year-old boy in the head with a water bottle and grabbed him by the back of his neck. It goes on to say she later grabs a 3-year-old girl by her right arm and lifts her off of her feet.

"My first thought was 'she's lucky her arm wasn't dislocated,'" said Shannon Stanchik, the girls' mother.

But Ferguson's Attorney John Anthony Ward told jurors that prosecutors were exaggerating.

"You'll see that she didn't hit him with a bottle, she tapped him to get his attention," he said during opening statements. "The child was throwing a temper tantrum, threw himself down on the ground."

The boy's mother, Allison Sacomano, said she rushed back to the day care after Ferguson sent her this message:

"Franco has a bad scratch on his neck. I'm just checking if it happened at school or at home. I applied a gauze patch on his neck because it will not stop bleeding."

The boy's father, Michael Sacomano, also testified and said he could tell his son was shaking in the video.

"I know my son, I've never seen him like that before, and you could tell that he was in a lot of pain," he said.

The Sacomanos said their youngest son did not have any injury on any part of his body prior to being notified of this incident.

Ferguson's Attorney however, argued there's no way of knowing if those marks were there beforehand.

Jurors were also shown multiple photos of several evident claw-type scratches on the boy's neck.

Detective Eric Palmer from the Menomonee Falls Police Department read a letter that Madeline Ferguson has written stating she, "felt like a monster" and "was disgusted," adding that she "never meant to hurt" the children.

Detective Palmer said Ferguson had previously denied causing any injuries.

At least one other witness is expected to testify, though closing statements are expected to take place sometime Wednesday.

If convicted, Ferguson faces up to seven years in prison and fined up to $20,000.