After appearing before the Strasbourg Assize Court, a 44-year-old childminder was sentenced to twelve years in prison for shaking to death a baby in her care at her home in Marlenheim (Bas-Rhin) in 2013.
This Wednesday, June 26, a 44-year-old woman, who worked as a childminder, was sentenced to 12 years of criminal imprisonment for causing the death of a baby in her care eleven years ago , violently shaking him at his home in Marlenheim, in Bas-Rhin.
The events took place on October 22, 2013. That day, the baby, aged 6 months, was dropped off by his mother at the childminder’s home around 7:30 a.m. However, less than an hour later, the young woman, aged 33 at the time, called the firefighters explaining to them that the child was no longer reacting and that milk was coming out of his mouth and nose.
When help arrived, the baby was in critical condition. He was transported to the pediatric emergency room of the Hautepierre University Hospital in Strasbourg, where he was treated. Unfortunately, the infant died there late in the morning.
The baby’s death was considered “suspicious” and numerous medical experts had established that the infant’s death was “due to a very violent acceleration of the head”, as recalled by Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace (DNA). The medical community estimated that “one or more shaking maneuvers” would be the cause of retinal, cerebral and hepatic hemorrhages that led to the baby’s death.
A jolt of panic?
Mother of two children, the childminder had indicated, for her part, that she had briefly lost consciousness while she had the little one, limp, in her arms. According to her, the baby could have hit the wall with his head. For her, if there was a potential shock, it was only due to panic.
Still according to DNA, forensic investigations revealed that the baby had an older subdural hematoma caused by head trauma suffered “around two weeks before his death”, causing the infant to vomit. A reason which worried the parents at the time and they then consulted a doctor.
The childminder had remained free since the events.
