Virginia nurse accused of breaking baby’s bones in neonatal care

Published Jan 09, 2025  •  2 minute read

Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman. Photo by Handout /Henrico County Sheriff's Office

A young nurse assigned to the neonatal unit at a Virginia hospital is accused of breaking the bones of at least one premature baby and possibly several others.

Article content

Article content

Article content

Police in Henrico, near Richmond, announced the arrest of Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, 26, of Chesterfield County, last week.

She is facing charges of malicious wounding and felony child abuse following an incident that occurred at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) last November, police said.

“We appreciate the families’ and public’s patience as we work as thoroughly and expeditiously as possible to investigate every piece of evidence in connection to these cases,” Henrico Chief of Police Eric D. English said in a statement.

According to court records obtained by CBS affiliate WTVR, the offences she is accused of happened on Nov. 10.

The arrest comes after police reopened an investigation on Dec. 31 into unexplained fractures sustained by three babies in neonatal care in late November and December.

Article content

Article content

The original investigation dates back to the summer of 2023 when four different babies were found to have bone fractures.

According to Virginia Department of Social Services records obtained by WTVR, Strotman was placed on administrative leave in 2023 following an internal investigation. Evidence pointed to her being was one of two employees to have been around the babies at the time of the incidents.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

However, child protective services and police at the time were unable to determine who was abusing the infants and she returned to her job.

“Currently, the Henrico County Police Division is utilizing all available resources to ensure a thorough investigation into this matter,” police said. “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.”

Article content

HCA Virginia Health System, which runs the hospital, said it will continue to assist law enforcement in their ongoing investigation.

“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,” hospital administrators said in a statement.

Babies needing intensive care will not be admitted as new patients, the health system added.

“For babies needing NICU care, we will assess them, stabilize, and facilitate a transfer to an appropriate facility, once available,” the hospital said in an update to their safety measures.

Recommended from Editorial

1. 

   Florida doctor accused of producing child porn, allegedly linked to girl’s death

2. 

   'GETTING A LOT OF HATE': Arizona tattoo artist slammed for inking girl, 9

Article content