Former Nurse Charged With Child Abuse After 3 Premature Babies Sustain Fractures At Virginia Hospital

Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman has been charged with child abuse in the neonatal intensive care unit at a Virginia hospital.

A former nurse was arrested on Jan. 2 following an investigation into alleged child abuse taking place in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Virginia’s Henrico Doctors’ Hospital.

Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, 26, was arrested and is facing charges of malicious wounding and felony child abuse in connection with a late 2024 incident that left three infants in the NICU with “unexplainable fractures,” according to officials. Strotman was arrested and charged with malicious wounding and felony child abuse, which the hospital confirmed occurred in late November or early December, NBC News reports.

Her arrest follows the hospital’s announcement, one week prior, that it was temporarily halting NICU admissions after three babies were discovered with unexplained fractures in late November and early December. Strotman was already placed on paid administrative leave in 2023 after the hospital conducted an internal investigation.

She was determined to be one of two staff persons “found to have had contact with all of the infants in the timeframe identified,” and unlike the other employee, Strotman was “new to the unit and had more direct care responsibilities with the NICU infants.”

According to a statement from HCA, which operates Henrico Doctors’ Hospital, the recent fractures reported in late 2024 resemble incidents involving four other babies at the hospital during the summer of 2023. One of those injured babies, Noah Hackey, suffered a fractured tibia while in the NICU at the hospital in September 2023.

A CPS report cited “level 1 for physical abuse of Noah by an employee by the Henrico Doctor’s Hospital NICU.” After the hospital re-opened Noah’s case and a few others, Strotman was identified as the suspect.

She was taken into custody Thursday and booked at Henrico Jail West early Friday morning. The hospital stated that, out of an abundance of caution, it is no longer accepting new babies into its NICU.

They have also implemented additional security measures, such as installing live-streaming technology and mandating safety training for all caregivers. Police also said they are “re-examining the 2023 and 2024 cases as part of this broader investigation.”