Shanteari Young, the Baltimore daycare owner whose case sparked international outcry after she shot her ex-husband for sexually abusing children at her facility, has been released from prison after serving nearly four years behind bars.
Young was arrested in July 2022 after confronting and shooting her ex-husband— a retired police officer — who was later sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl inside a daycare van. Her case quickly went viral, with supporters across the globe rallying behind her, many arguing she acted out of instinct to protect children and should never have been incarcerated.
According to CBS News, Young was recently transferred to a halfway house as part of her reentry. Now free, she is using her platform to push for a national reckoning on how child sexual abuse is handled.
“The one thing I think that we need to know is that sexual abuse is not okay,” Young said in a recent interview. “A lot of times in the past, it has been covered up, and it’s good that it’s getting some type of notoriety to it so that we can stop it.”
Supporters were initially enraged by the four-year sentence she received, with many believing she should have been praised, not prosecuted. Despite the prison time, Young says she’s grateful for the outpouring of support and hopes her experience leads to systemic change in how children are protected — and how whistleblowers and protectors like her are treated by the justice system.
Her ex-husband, once entrusted to serve and protect, now faces a life sentence for the horrific abuse he inflicted on young girls, with prosecutors building their case around the 10-year-old victim who was assaulted in a daycare vehicle.
Young’s supporters argue her case underscores broader failures in how the legal system handles cases of sexual abuse, particularly when victims or their advocates take matters into their own hands.
As she rebuilds her life, Young says she remains committed to advocating for children’s safety and creating space for hard conversations that are long overdue.
“We can help children,” she said. “But we have to stop sweeping this under the rug.”
