Parents who hired a black babysitter to look after their children said they were left “in a state of disbelief” when a woman reacted by calling the police.
Atlanta couple David Parker and Dana Mango were contacted by police on Sunday after the unnamed woman followed babysitter Corey Lewis home before calling 911.
Ms Mango said she received a phone call from a police officer asking her to confirm that she knew Mr Lewis.
“The police officer was trying to explain that he was there with my kids and that they were OK, but he wanted to confirm that I had given permission to Mr. Lewis to be with them,” she told Good Morning America.
“It truly took me several minutes to believe that it was real. I was just in a state of disbelief.”
She added that her children, Addison, 10, and Nicholas, six, were “scared that they would say the wrong thing and cause him to get arrested.”
She said the officer was “apologetic” when he spoke to them.
"I think he was embarrassed. He saw what was happening pretty quickly," she said.
The woman who alerted the police had initially seen Mr Lewis with the children in the car park of a Walmart and approached to ask if the children were ok.
When he refused, she followed him first to a gas station and then to his house.
An exchange between Mr Lewis and officer who was called was filmed by him in a series of Facebook Live videos, which have since gone viral.
In videos, Mr Lewis, who runs a mentoring programme for youngsters emotional and behaviour issues, says: "It's 2018. I can't step out into the community without being profiled.
"I am being harassed and followed... because I have got two kids that don't look like me."
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