Waitress Takes Action Against Child Abusers

Walking in the grocery store there are times when you see a parent speaking harshly to their children, or delivering a swift swat.

You wonder if there is more going on there, but don’t want to stare rudely or think the worst of someone.

There are times, though, when a situation is so visibly wrong that staying silent could cost a life.

A pregnant waitress at a Kentucky Olive Garden saw one such situation that didn’t sit right with her.

It was a Sunday evening, reports the Western Journal, when parents came to the popular Italian eatery with their two young children.

The mother-to-be, Jordan Cooper, couldn’t take her eyes off a little girl, probably younger than two, whose face was “black and blue all over”, according to her viral Facebook post that has since been deleted.

I can’t even describe to you how bad she looked and how and why nobody noticed it,” the appalled waitress told WPSD.

How could someone not notice a toddler who has been beaten in the face? There was the hostess who sat the family, the patrons at the table nearby, and the dozens of employees who inevitably had to walk by.

Unfortunately, it was probably not that no one had noticed, but that it is a faux pas to address a stranger’s personal business.

Although, most people have no issue letting you know that you shouldn’t be breastfeeding in public, as Mommy Underground has previously reported.

Not only did the little girl have evidence of past abuse, right there in the restaurant the man who was with her was handling the child “harshly, force feeding her, and grabbing her shirt and taking her to the bathroom whenever she cried,” according to the post.

It was much easier for all the people passing by to ignore this poor little girl’s visible afflictions, than to cause conflict by addressing the issue or calling the authorities.

That is for everybody except Cooper. She could not stand by and do nothing.

In a clever plan, Cooper enlisted the help of a nearby table to capture a photograph of the cruel man in question.

I had slid them my number, and they sent [the photos] to me as soon as they walked out the door,” Cooper revealed to WPSD.

In another quick act of heroism, she ran out the door as the abused children left with their deranged care givers ad got the license plate number of their vehicle.

As soon as she had all the information she needed to capture these offenders, Cooper called 911.

Aaron Caldwell is a 911 dispatcher and friend to Cooper, and she immediately took the information from the distressed waitress to begin searching for the parents of the children in need.

It didn’t take long for Caldwell to find the couple, after Facebook aided in the search.

Caldwell told WSIL how the whole discovery came to be:

She put it online and when I found it. It had 1,400 shares. It just so happened that we knew each other and I’m a dispatcher.”

Mark Lee Pierce and Jessica Woodworth were arrested and put behind bars, charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect, according to Western Journal.

A $200,000 bail was set for each of them. The children are now safe.

Insider displayed images of the couple facing the abuse charges in a tweet, saying that the Olive Garden waitress had led authorities to the arrest.

Some on social media praised Cooper for being nothing short of a hero, like this one tweet:

It was a good thing Cooper picked up that Sunday shift, where she normally doesn’t work.

There are thousands of children abused in the United States every year, and only a portion of these children are properly advocated for.

Being abused can make a child feel defeated and hopeless. It is up to others to care enough to speak out for the innocent victims of abusive parents.

Jordan Cooper will undoubtedly make a good parent to her new little one on the way, looking out for their best interest, even when it is not the most comfortable or convenient.

Please let us know in the comments section what you think about Cooper’s act of heroism, and how you would have acted in the moment.