Inset: Cindy Desser (Bensalem Police Department). Background: Locust Avenue in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, where Desser allegedly assaulted a 3-year-old girl (Google Maps).
A Pennsylvania nurse allegedly slammed, slapped and withheld the tracheostomy tube of a 3-year-old girl who is in need of round-the-clock medical care.
Cindy Desser, 58, stands accused of endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Bensalem Police Department. A probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime said Desser served as an overnight nurse for the girl at the family”s home on Locust Avenue in Bensalem, a Philadelphia suburb. In October, the girl’s mother noticed some bruising on her inner thigh while she was changing her daughter’s diaper.
The mom took the girl to a hospital, where doctors determined the bruise was in the shape of a thumb print.
When the parents reviewed surveillance camera footage from the girl’s room, Desser was allegedly seen slapping the girl on multiple occasions. She also allegedly “aggressively” threw the girl around her crib. One time, the girl apparently pulled out her tracheostomy tube. The video allegedly showed Desser “taking her time” putting the tube back in, before saying “you did this” while the girl was “gasping for air.” Desser was also seen sleeping on the job, per the complaint.
The defendant works for Dynamic Home Health Care. Cops noted that she also was in violation of several of the company’s rules and ethics.
The girl’s parents, who wished to remain anonymous, spoke with local ABC affiliate WPVI. They told the outlet that Desser appealed to them because she had 20 years of experience and took care of another child who had the same lung disease as the girl. The girl was born prematurely and weighed just 14 ounces at birth and is in need of special medical care.
“She likes nights,” the mom told WPVI about Desser. “You don’t find that. It was almost like too good to be true.”
Unfortunately for the girl and her parents, it appears that it was.
Watching the video of their daughter gasping for air after Desser allegedly withheld her tracheostomy tube was especially hard.
“This was the most disturbing one. Thank God my daughter is so strong,” the mother told the outlet. “It was just horrific. I just couldn’t believe it. It’s like almost like monsters come out at night.”
The father called the whole situation a nightmare. Another alleged incident also stood out to him.
“All our little girl did was sit up and look at her for a minute and she got shoved to the ground. It’s really sick and horrible,” he said.
He hopes Desser loses her nursing license and faces justice.
“I just hope she gets to sit in a room with other people that did bad things,” he told WPVI. “A snake can shed its skin so many times and it’s still a snake. So, you gotta watch out.”
WPVI reports that Desser has since been fired from her job. She remains in the Bucks County Jail on a $2 million bond. Her next court date is set for April 7.
