Former nurse faces charges after newborn baby found with fractures

A Virginia woman was charged Thursday with child abuse for her connection to mysterious injuries that occurred to a newborn in the neonatal intensive care unit of a hospital where she worked as a nurse, officials said.

The woman, Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, 26, of Chesterfield County, Virginia, was charged with malicious wounding and child abuse, according to court records and the Henrico County Police Division.

The arrest came after police began investigating three babies discovered with “unexplained fractures” in the neonatal unit at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond in late November and December, the hospital said in a statement Friday. The hospital said it has provided footage to authorities to assist in their investigation.

If found guilty, Ms. Strotman faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on the child neglect charge and 20 years on the malicious wounding charge, Henrico County Prosecutor Shannon Taylor said in a statement.

Ms. Strotman is being held without bail at the Henrico County Regional Jail West. Her attorney did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Saturday.

The hospital, which described Ms. Strotman in the statement as a former employee, declined to say when Ms. Strotman began working there. She received her nursing license in May 2019 and her certification is active, according to the Virginia Department of Health Professions.

Although three babies were recently discovered with fractures, Ms. Strotman was only charged in connection with the injuries of a single victim, Ms. Taylor said.

The abuse, which occurred on or before November 11, 2024, is reminiscent of cases from 2023, when four babies were discovered with mysterious injuries at the same hospital, Ms Taylor said.

Although Ms. Taylor said Ms. Strotman’s arrest was solely due to her connection to the individual case, the Henrico County Police Department said “detectives are reinvestigating the 2023 and 2024 cases as part of this larger investigation.”

The Henrico County Police Division and Ms. Taylor declined to provide details about the babies’ injuries.

Ms. Taylor said in the statement that her “thoughts are with the families” of those injured “who have suffered harm in a facility designed to provide comfort and care.”

The hospital, which says it delivers about 4,500 babies a year, said it has stopped admitting new patients to its neonatal intensive care unit and has not provided further information about when it will resume admitting new patients to the unit.

“We have assisted law enforcement in their ongoing investigation and will continue to do so,” the hospital said. It added that it was “both shocked and saddened by this development in the investigation.”