Two Georgia women are behind bars after one allegedly abused children at a Christian preschool, while the other, the director of the school, reportedly did nothing when alerted to the abuse.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Shannon McCune, 27, a teacher at Foundations Christian Preschool in Augusta, was arrested on Tuesday in connection to child abuse charges filed in Oct., after two parents of children attending the preschool noticed bruising on their kids. According to court documents, the parents filed a complaint with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, with suspicions that their children were being abused at the preschool.

Court records indicate that McCune is accused of hitting a 5-year-old child with a yardstick and grabbing the child by the arm on multiple occasions. She’s also accused of smacking a 4-year-old child with a flag pole.

The preschool’s director,  Melinda Sue Williams, 34, was also arrested on Tuesday for failure to report the abuse after receiving complaints. According to The Augusta Chronicle, a parent told Williams that one of the teachers hit her child and provided photos of the bruises. Georgia law requires that any complaint of child abuse must be reported to authorities immediately, yet authorities reported that Williams didn’t even report the incident to the Division of Family and Children Services, much less contact authorities.

McCune was charged with two counts of cruelty to children in the first degree, while Williams was charged with failure to report child abuse. Both suspects have since bailed out of jail. It’s still unclear whether they were terminated from their positions at the school.

The story is still developing. Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.

[Feature Photo: Melinda Sue Williams (left) and Shannon McCune/Columbia County Sheriff’s Office]