Wisconsin – A Wisconsin woman was taken into custody last week and charged with one feIony count of chiId abuse — reckIessIy causing harm, court records show. A judge set a $2,500 cash bond and ordered that the defendant, 32-year-old AshIey, have no contact with chiIdren under 12, except her own chiId.
The case began after a 3-month-old chiId who had been in care at the daycare center, where the woman was empIoyed, was taken to a local hospital and then transferred to Children’s Wisconsin for specialized care. Medical staff identified a fracture to the baby’s left arm; medical records cited in the police complaint described the injury as a minimal displaced spiral fracture of the mid left humeral diaphysis, and a treating physician concluded the injury was consistent with inflicted trauma.
Wisconsin authorities opened an investigation after hospital staff reported the injury. Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from the chiId’s room and conducted multiple interviews with daycare staff and other witnesses. Investigators say the video shows the woman appearing to become increasingly frustrated during her shift and, shortly before 12:30 p.m, picking up the baby by the torso and placing the child into a crib with enough force that the side of the crib rocked and a loud thump could be heard. The chiId began screaming, and later in the video the child’s left arm appeared limp. Police say that sequence of events, together with the medical assessment, prompted the woman’s arrest.
Police and prosecutors say the investigation included coordination with the County Department of Human Services — Child Protective Services and the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. Detectives conducted several interviews as part of the probe; after reviewing the video and completing those interviews, they took the woman into custody last week on suspicion of causing the injury. Wisconsin authorities have asked anyone with additional information to contact the local police department.
In statements to responding officers and in interviews cited in the criminal complaint, the woman denied intentionally harming the child. According to the complaint, when interviewed, she said she did not slam the baby and suggested the crib movement seen on video could have resulted from her bumping the crib with her hip. She also told investigators the baby’s crying matched a sound the child had been making earlier and that the infant was crying every time she touched the baby. The police complaint records those denials alongside the surveillance and medical findings; the case remains in the hands of prosecutors.
The criminal case is ongoing. The defendant remains free on the cash bond set by the court under the condition she avoid contact with children under age 12 outside her immediate family. Wisconsin authorities continue to encourage anyone with relevant information to contact the local police department.
