Charges against a Westlake daycare worker accused of cruelty to juveniles last year have been rejected.

Maria Angelica Reeves was originally charged on March 17, 2023, with three counts of cruelty to juveniles and was released on a $195,000 bond. She faced a second set of charges later that month, accused of two counts of cruelty to juveniles and one count of second-degree cruelty to juveniles at a second day care facility. Her bond on the additional charges was set at $210,000.

“All of this occurred despite video evidence proving Maria’s innocence and despite firm warnings to the (Westlake Police) Department that Maria was innocent and that they were making a huge mistake,” her attorney, Adam Johnson, said in a statement to the American Press. “Maria and her family paid thousands of dollars for her to bond out of jail because an inept and overzealous detective refused to stop arresting her.”

The Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s Office has confirmed all of the charges against Reeves have been refused.

“We appreciate the District Attorney’s decision to do the right thing,” Johnson said. “But unfortunately, Maria is the victim in this case — an undeservingly disgraced victim of a detective’s abuse of authority. When you perform an online search of Maria, news of her arrests display first, despite her innocence and the fact charges were refused.”