A former Virginia nurse is now being charged with eight counts of abuse and malicious wounding after seven infants have been discovered with unexplained fractures in a neonatal intensive care unit.
Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, 26, was arrested earlier this yr and charged with two counts of malicious wounding and felony youngster abuse in reference to the investigation on the hospital the place she labored, the Henrico Medical doctors’ Hospital in Richmond, the Henrico County Police Division confirmed in January.
At a listening to on Monday, Strotman was charged with six new counts, together with 4 of kid abuse and two of malicious wounding.
Officers are investigating the accidents of seven infants, three in 2024 and 4 in 2023. The costs added Monday are in connection to 3 infants harmed final yr. Strotman has not been charged in connection to the 2023 accidents, in accordance with Virginia information station WRIC-TV.
“Whereas there was an arrest for one particular person for allegedly inflicting damage on a single sufferer, I might emphasize that is an ongoing investigation spanning potential offenses dedicated in each 2023 and 2024,” Henrico County Commonwealth’s Lawyer Shannon Taylor advised USA TODAY.
USA TODAY has reached out to Strotman’s court-appointed lawyer, Scott Cardani, who beforehand declined to Jan. 7 request for remark.
Employees on the Henrico Medical doctors’ Hospital discovered three infants with unexplained fractures at its NICU unit between late November and December, the hospital mentioned.
The hospital mentioned the accidents resembled accidents in 4 infants found throughout the summer season of 2023 and due to this fact opened an inner investigation.
The hospital notified the households of the toddler victims and police. On Dec. 26, legislation enforcement launched their very own investigation and by Dec. 31, police introduced it reopened circumstances referring to the 2023 accidents.
“We’re each shocked and saddened by this growth within the investigation and are centered on persevering with to take care of our sufferers and offering assist to our colleagues who’ve been deeply and personally impacted by this investigation,” the hospital wrote on Jan. 3.
On Jan. 7, Henrico police Chief Eric D. English mentioned detectives combed via “lots of of hours of footage” earlier than arresting Strotman, including that “we kindly request persistence as our detectives work to research every bit of proof in connection to those circumstances.”
Erin Strotman is 26-year-old girl from Chesterfield County, simply south of Richmond, in accordance with police.
The Henrico Medical doctors’ Hospital described Strotman as a former worker in a press release posted on its web site, however didn’t say how lengthy she labored there.
Strotman obtained her nursing license in Might 2019, and her certification remained lively on-line as of Tuesday, in accordance with the Virginia Division of Well being Professions.