A Charleston, S.C. couple says their family dog sniffed out abuse by a babysitter who was supposed to be caring for their seven-month-old son.
Benjamin and Hope Jordan moved to the area in 2012 and hired Khan to watch their son, Finn. Khan came up clean in a background check, they say.
"We felt like Alexis was a good fit at the time," recalls Benjamin Jordan, but he says he soon started to get bad vibes courtesy of their pet dog Killian.
"About five months into her being our baby sitter, we started to notice that our dog was very protective of our son when she would come in the door."
"He was very aggressive towards her and a few times we actually had to physically restrain our dog from going towards her."
Based on Killian's behavior, Hope was worried enough to place an iPhone under the couch and let it record what happens while they were at work.
Sure enough, they were horrified what they heard.
"It started with cussing," Jordan said.
"Then slap noises and his crying changes from a distress cry to a pain cry. I just wanted to reach through the audio tape, go back in time and just grab him up."
"To know that five months I had handed my child to a monster, not knowing what was going on in my house for that day," the mom tearfully recalled.
Charleston police arrested Khan a few weeks after the couple reported the abuse, and she confessed, pleading guilty to felony assault and battery.
Khan was ordered to serve 1-3 years in prison for her crimes.
As part of a plea bargain that spared her an even harsher sentence, Khan will be placed on a child abuse registry and barred from future work with children.
She is still not eligible for parole until after a year behind bars.
"That is fantastic news to us. To know that maybe Finn's ordeal has possibly saved another child's life in the future," said Benjamin Jordan.
"Had our dog not alerted us to the trouble, had my wife's instincts not said we need to make something happen, it could have been Finn that was killed by the babysitter."
"You never know."
Fortunately he appears to be doing fine despite the ordeal. The Jordans say their son is holding up well and has no lingering effects from the abuse.
Let's hear it for Killian!
