VALDOSTA — An area child care provider who was charged with one count of felony cruelty to children recently pleaded guilty in Lowndes County Superior Court and has been sentenced to 10 years of probation.

Lowndes County Superior Court Judge Harry Jay Altman II sentenced Doreatha “Cookie” Jones under First Offender Treatment provisions after she entered her guilty plea Tuesday. In addition to probation, Jones has to perform 120 hours of community service and pay a fine of $4,000.

Other special conditions maintain that Jones can no longer be in the child care business, have unsupervised contact with children she is not related to or have contact with the victim in this case.

Jones was charged with cruelty to children in June 2007 after the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office received a report that a 15-month-old child under her care was injured in her home-based child care facility. The child was examined by a physician and found to have visible injuries.

In February 2007, Jones’ child care facility was investigated by the Bright from the Start program with the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning following a complaint. The final report stated that Jones’ facility did not meet the requirements of registration or staffing.

The report stated, “In order to obtain or retain a registration, the provider of the home and its employees must be qualified, as defined in these rules, to administer or work in a home.” The report further stated, “The provider does not qualify under these rules due to the fact that she has a substantiated case with the Lowndes County Department of Family and Children Services for lack of supervision (maltreatment).”

Related to the supervision of the children under Jones’ care, the report found that “children were not supervised in that a child was injured while in the care of the provider and the provider’s explanation of how the injury occurred did not support the nature and severity of the injury.”

Requirements by the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning state that “ … there shall be no adult present or residing in the home who has been shown by credible evidence, e.g. a court or jury, a department investigation or other reliable evidence, to have abused, neglected, or deprived a child or adult or to have subjected any person to serious injury as result of intentional or grossly negligent misconduct.” Jones’ case with Lowndes County DFCS was noted once again in this section of the report.

The father of the victim, Gadiel Reyes, expressed satisfaction with outcome of the case. The victim’s family has since relocated to Miami, Fla.