A home healthcare nurse has been accused of a abusing toddler in her care.
Cindy Dresser, 58, was arrested on March 25 and charged with endangering the welfare of a child after Bensalem Police said they received a ChildLine report that a “medically fragile child” may have been harmed by a caregiver.
According to WCAU, an arrest affidavit said that Desser was the overnight nurse for a 3-year-old girl who needed round-the-clock care. The investigation began last October when the mother noticed bruises while changing her daughter’s diaper. She took the girl to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where a doctor thought one bruise resembled a thumbprint.
The mother reviewed video recordings, the police department said, and saw Desser abusing the child.
Detectives obtained the recordings and saw Desser “throwing the child within the crib, striking the child, and sleeping during her shift.”
“In one particularly concerning incident, Desser removed the child’s tracheostomy tube and failed to promptly reinsert it, causing the child to struggle to breathe,” the department said.
The affidavit said that the child’s mother soon learned that Desser had been previously investigated for another alleged assault of a child, WCAU said.
Desser is being held at the Bucks County jail on a $2 million bond and is due in court again on April 7.
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[Featured image: Cindy Desser/Bensalem Police Department]
