A Virginia nurse working in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) has been accused of causing unexplained bone fractures to several infants under her care.
Virginia NICU nurse arrested
Police announced Friday that Erin Strotman, 26 years old, is now facing charges of felony child neglect and felony malicious wounding stemming from the injury of one of the premature babies she treated.
Three infants reportedly sustained injuries in November and December at Richmond’s Henrico Doctors’ Hospital NICU where Strotman worked. That is in addition to four previous cases of fractures that occurred in 2023.
Now, law enforcement officials with the Henrico County Police Division are embarking on what they describe as a “thorough investigation,” which involves examining “dozens of videos from inside the NICU.”
All seven cases of abuse are under scrutiny as part of a larger investigative effort, according to officials.
“The Henrico County Police Division is utilizing all available resources to ensure a thorough investigation into this matter,” stated local law enforcement.
“This involves reviewing dozens of videos from inside the NICU. As previously mentioned, detectives are re-examining the 2023 and 2024 cases as part of this broader investigation.”
Family reports baby’s injuries
One couple may have spurred the investigation along when they contacted Virginia Child Services when one of their premature twins, named Noah, suffered a broken leg during his time in the NICU.
Medical imaging revealed that Noah’s tibia had been fractured. The hospital explanation initially suggested it might have been an accident resulting from the administration of a medical injection.
“That’s what they told us, that it could have been done because an injection was given and maybe they did it too hard and it caused the fracture,” explained Dominique Hackey, Noah’s father.
Dominique, however, grew suspicious and reported the matter to child services. Several weeks later, a September review found the case classified as Level 1 physical abuse—a rating indicating the most severe category of mistreatment in the state.
“It’s my baby boy. I feel like I’ve done nothing to protect him and that hurts. It pisses me off,” Dominique said to CBS 6.
“Somebody needs to be held accountable for my son, for everybody’s kid, somebody needs to be held accountable, it’s too many in such a short period of time.”
These incidents led the hospital to take the drastic measure of halting all newborn admissions to their NICU, citing what the facility described as “an abundance of caution.” This decision was made public on Christmas Eve.
“While fractures occasionally happen with pre-term babies since they lack full fetal bone development, we are actively working to determine how these fractures occurred,” stated Henrico Doctors’ Hospital.
On Friday, the hospital additionally confirmed Erin Strotman as the “former employee” implicated in the investigation connected to these NICU injuries.
“We are both shocked and saddened by this development in the investigation and are focused on continuing to care for our patients and providing support to our colleagues who have been deeply and personally impacted by this investigation,” the hospital conveyed through an official statement.
“We are grateful to those colleagues, who have dedicated their professional lives to the care and safety of our patients, as well as to law enforcement and the other agencies who have worked aggressively and tirelessly with us on this investigation,” the hospital added.
Virginia NICU nurse facing decades behind bars
If convicted, the charges leveled against Strotman carry serious legal implications, with maximum penalties of 10 years for felony child neglect and an additional 20 years tied to felony malicious wounding.
However, authorities indicated that further charges could potentially surface as the investigation advances into injuries linked to other infants.
“Like any investigation we are going to make sure that we look at all facets of the investigation, and if there are individuals that need to be held accountable, and if we have the evidence to sustain that then we will pursue it,” Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor told the outlet.
Currently, Strotman remains in custody after her initial court appearance on Friday where she was denied bail.
Under court order, she is prohibited from having contact with children and is scheduled to return to court on March 24.
Life sentence in the men’s ward. It’s like that ‘christian’ abortionist proud of killing babies in the womb. What is the matter with our world? The Church stepped aside. When that happens, evil moves in.