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N.J. mom didn't know son was put in washing machine

By John Bacon

A New Jersey woman whose 1-year-old son made national news when a video went viral of him trapped in a tumbling washing machine says she had no idea what happened until police showed her the video Wednesday, the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill reports.

Sakia David said her son, Saimier Bush, was taken to the Federal Laundromat in Camden on May 11 by his baby-sitter. Police alerted her after learning of the incident from news accounts.

"She never said anything about it," David, who did not identify the baby-sitter, said in an interview outside her apartment.

Speaking on NBC's "Today" show this morning, David said she wants the baby-sitter punished for allowing a male friend to put the child in the machine.

The footage, recorded by a surveillance camera at Federal Laundromat, would have gone unseen if not posted online. The laundry owner's son posted the video a week ago on YouTube.

The video shows a man, described as a friend of the baby-sitter, as he scoops up Saimeir and, apparently playfully, puts him in a washing machine. As the baby-sitter sorts laundry at a nearby table, the man closes the washer door. The sitter and her friend then react with shock as the washer starts, sending the boy tumbling.

From the Courier Post:

The pair, unable to open the locked door, call for help and run through the store seeking help. The man returns with Laundromat worker Kong Enh, who shoves a table out of his way to reach the machine's power supply.

Enh cut the electricity to all of the machines in a row that ironically was beneath a sign that read, "Junior Wash." Only then could the child be rescued, more than a minute after the washer door had clicked shut.

Saimeir suffered some cuts and bruises. David said her son has been pulling on his ear and "just looking around a lot."

"I just want this to be over with," she said. "Mistakes happen. That's all I want to tell America."