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A daycare worker accused of locking a 4-year-old in a dark bathroom as punishment is scheduled for arraignment on March 15.

Police arrested Ebonie Washington, 30, Friday night and charged her with first degree criminal abuse.

Samantha Deering said she came to pick up her daughter at Next Generation Daycare in the Eastview Plaza Friday, and Washington confronted her, telling her the 4-year-old misbehaved and used profanity. The mother said she called police when her daughter told her what happened.

"She said, they put me in the bathroom, slammed the door in my face and turned on the lights...I mean turned off the lights. She kept opening the door, trying to get light in there, and they kept yelling at her," Deering said. "I asked her how long she'd been in there, and my daughter just said, 'For a very long time, mommy.'"

The director of Next Generation said she fired Washington.