LARGO, Fla. – Detectives with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office arrested a group home and daycare employee on a child abuse charge following an investigation involving a non-verbal autistic child, authorities said.
According to investigators, deputies responded Dec. 21, 2025, to a reported child abuse incident at a group home in Largo after the child’s father noticed multiple injuries while picking up the child.
Detectives assigned to the Crimes Against Children Unit reviewed surveillance video from inside the group home, which they said showed 38-year-old Shannon Cooper of Clearwater physically battering the child. Investigators said the footage shows Cooper pulling the child by the collar, striking the child multiple times without provocation, straddling the child and forcing her body weight onto them, throwing the child into furniture, and taking the child into rooms without camera coverage.
The child was found to have bruising on the neck, right arm, and left arm, along with scratches on the face and hands, detectives said.
Cooper was arrested Jan. 21, 2026, and charged with child abuse. She was transported to the Pinellas County Jail.
Investigators said Cooper is also employed at Retmus Academy of Learning, located at 2800 26th Avenue South in St. Petersburg.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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