Benjamin and Hope Jordan were very thorough in their search for a babysitter for their infant son, Finn. After a background check on 22-year-old Alexis Khan came up clean, the Jordans thought they’d found a responsible person to care for their baby while they were at work.
Thanks to the family’s dog, Labrador Retriever–German Shepherd mix Killian, Khan is now behind bars where she belongs.
Killian was the only witness to the abuse Finn suffered at the hands of his babysitter. Whenever Khan entered the Jordan’s house, Killian would growl and stand between her and little Finn, seemingly defending the baby from his babysitter. Benjamin and Hope were flabbergasted.
“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,” Benjamin tells WCSC. “He was very aggressive towards her and a few times we actually had to physically restrain our dog from going towards her.”
Benjamin and Hope could not believe their dog, who acted warm and friendly towards everyone else he’d ever met, behaved in such an unusual manner around the babysitter.
Finally, Benjamin and Hope could no longer ignore what Killian was trying so desperately to convey. Hope suggested to her husband they hide an iPhone beneath the sofa one day, hoping to record what was going on in their home.
With the phone tucked out of sight, ready to capture the day’s events, Benjamin and Hope left for work. The Jordans were not prepared to discover that the woman they’d trusted was acting violently towards their baby — and that’s exactly what they heard on the secret iPhone recording.
“It started with cussing,” Benjamin explains. “Then you hear slap noises and his crying changes from a distress cry to a pain cry.”
The concerned parents even heard what they believed to be the sounds of Khan shaking Finn on the recording — something that could have easily killed or permanently disabled their son.
“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,” Benjamin says in disbelief.
Khan has since pled guilty to assault and battery in a Charleston Circuit Court. She now must serve 1 to 3 years in prison for abusing Finn. She will be up for parole in 1 year but must remain on a child abuse registry upon release.
Benjamin believes if it weren’t for Killian, Finn might have lost his young life at the hands of his violent babysitter.