Parents grew suspicious when their gentle dog kept growling at one babysitter — when they hid a phone to find out why, the truth made them sick

The babysitter had cleared a background check and seemed perfect for the job, with prior childcare experience.

PUBLISHED 5 DAYS AGO

(L) A mother with her baby in hand and her pet dog. (R) A couple shocked looking at their phone. (Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | (L) Gabriel Mello, (R) Antonio Guillem)

For one South Carolina family, what started as a small sign of concern turned into a discovery that led them to protect their child from harm. It began with a few unsettling moments at home that made the parents trust their instincts and pay closer attention to what was happening in their absence. When the family dog started acting hostile toward their baby’s new sitter, they had no idea he was trying to warn them about something disturbing.

Dog lying on the bed and barking. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images |Kerkez) — Dog lying on the bed and barking. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Kerkez)

As reported by ABC News, Benjamin and Hope Jordan of Charleston had hired then-22-year-old Alexis Khan to babysit their then-seven-month-old son, Finn, in 2012. Khan had passed a background check and seemed like a suitable choice, having previous babysitting experience. For about five months, things appeared normal until the family’s usually calm and gentle dog began acting strangely. Killian, their black Lab and German Shepherd mix, started to growl, snarl, and place himself between Khan and baby Finn whenever she entered the home. “We noticed the dog was getting very defensive when Alexis was around,” Benjamin later said. “His hair would stand up on the back of his neck, and we knew something was up.”

A newborn baby crying next to a pet dog. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | jin chu ferrer)

The couple couldn’t ignore the warning signs. Killian’s behavior was so out of character that Hope and Benjamin decided to investigate further. Expecting to find that the babysitter might have been mistreating the dog, they placed an iPhone under their living room couch to record what happened while they were at work. When they returned home and listened to the recording, their fears quickly turned to shock. The audio captured Khan cursing at the baby, yelling expletives, and telling him to "shut the f*** up." In the background, the Jordans could hear the sound of slaps and the baby’s cries shifting from distress to pain. “I just wanted to reach through the audio tape, go back in time, and just grab him up,” Benjamin shared with Live 5.

Worried mom trying to comfort uneasy infant crying uncontrollably. (Representative Image Source: Pexels| Photo by Karolina Grabowska) — Worried mom trying to comfort uneasy infant crying uncontrollably. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Karolina Grabowska)

The couple immediately took their son to the hospital, where doctors confirmed he was unharmed. They then turned the recording over to Charleston police, who launched an investigation. Although authorities initially worried that audio alone might not be enough to press charges, detectives interviewed Khan, and she eventually confessed. Almost a year after the Jordans first captured the evidence, Khan appeared in a Charleston court and pleaded guilty to assault and battery. The judge sentenced her to three years in prison, the maximum penalty, and ordered that her name be added to a child abuse registry, preventing her from ever working with children again.

Looking back, the Jordans credited their loyal dog for saving their son. In their words, “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.” They later began training Killian as a psychiatric service animal, proud of the instincts that made him a hero. The family’s experience served as a powerful reminder to trust both intuition and the quiet signals that animals often give.