Miami-Dade church camp counselors accused of abusing boy, sheriff’s office says

Two Miami-Dade church camp counselors were arrested Wednesday for allegedly abusing a 9-year-old boy by placing large orange cones over his head and repeatedly hitting him, according to the sheriff’s office.

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Deputies opened a child-abuse investigation after the boy got home from summer camp on June 11 with injuries, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said in the arrest affidavit. Antoinette McKay, 50, of Cutler Bay, and Zaccheus Scott, 34, of Palmetto Bay, were his counselors on the day of the incident at St. Peter’s Missionary Baptist Church.

The boy was playing football at the West Perrine church when a fight broke out between him and one of his siblings, the affidavit said. McKay and Scott intervened, and Scott allegedly put large orange cones over the boy’s head, causing him to have difficulty breathing.

McKay is accused of grabbing the boy by his ankles, pinning him on the ground and then holding him down by the ankles on the seat portion of a chair. While she held him down, Scott allegedly slapped the boy multiple times on the left side of his face and head.

Read more Miami-Dade church camp counselors accused of abusing boy, sheriff’s office says

The boy sustained ruptured blood vessels in his left eye, a scratch on his face between his eyes and swelling and bruising on the side of his face, the affidavit said. Later that evening, his father took him to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Palmetto Bay where he was treated for his injures. His father was advised to monitor him for symptoms of a concussion.

McKay and Scott declined to speak with investigators about the incident. They are both facing one count of child abuse or neglect without causing great bodily harm and were being held Thursday on $1,500 bonds at Miami-Dade’s Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, jail records show.

McKay and Scott didn’t have defense attorneys listed yet. St. Peter’s Missionary Baptist Church didn’t respond to a request for comments.

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