Baby Suffers Serious Damage From Abuse In His Nursery

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

A Kansas babysitter was accused of causing blindness to a baby she was caring for, according to several press reports. On Friday, 27-year-old Paige Hatfield was found guilty of beating a 4-month-old baby causing serious bodily harm and operating an unlicensed day care center as determined by a Johnson County District Court jury.

On January 31, 2017, after 11 days of caring for the 4-month-old baby Kingston Gilbert, Hatfield called 911 to report that the baby was vomiting, the Kansas City Star reported. When taken to the hospital, the boy was diagnosed with severe head trauma caused by abuse, according to doctors. According to Norfolk Daily News, doctors informed authorities that the boy had been the victim of "extreme violence" and a blow to the head that was not accidental.

Although Hatfield assured authorities that the baby was never abused while she was caring for him, she was arrested and charged with hitting him so severely that it caused blindness, according to the Kansas City Star. The boy had been in daycare for six hours before he started vomiting.. The boy's parents testified that their son was acting normally before she was dropped off at daycare.

Her mother, Ashleigh Garcia, says they have had a nightmare after the incident. "We spent 18 days in the intensive care unit praying that he would survive," Garcia told Norfolk Daily News. "The doctors told us that he can never be the same child. We basically had to mourn the loss of our son and accept that the baby that we were going to take home would not be the same baby that we left in the nursery that day.” Hatfield will receive his sentence on March 28, according to various media.