The Virginia Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurse accused of shattering the bones of vulnerable babies has been charged with causing more injuries over a three-year period.
Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, 26, was charged in January with intentional wounding and felony child abuse in relation to an incident that occurred in November at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond. Strotman was charged with six fresh counts of felony child abuse and neglect on Tuesday, according to court records. According to local CBS station WTVR, the allegations stem from her treatment of four newborns between 2022 and 2024. The negligence charge stems from her treatment of a fifth infant, who was not hurt.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor told reporters Tuesday, following Strotman’s initial round of accusations, that a family’s attorney informed her office of an incident in 2022. No one reported the incident to authorities at the time, she added.
“Certainly when you’re talking about a process where mandated reporters are supposed to notify the agency who oversees whatever area we are covering, and there is a failure to do that, that is always concerning,” she pointed out.
Taylor said officials are still looking into reports that Strotman molested four additional newborns. She has not been charged in those cases.
According to Law&Crime, Strotman allegedly injured several youngsters. According to the hospital, three babies experienced “unexplained fractures” in November 2024. According to the hospital, four more newborns sustained identical injuries throughout the summer of 2023.
Investigators from the Henrico County Police Division studied dozens of videos from within the NICU and identified Strotman. Detectives continue to go through evidence, including “hundreds of hours of footage,” in the aim of bringing justice to each infant who was abused.
“We appreciate the families’ and public’s patience as we work as thoroughly and expeditiously as possible to investigate every piece of evidence in connection with these cases,” Henrico Police Chief Eric D. English said in a statement.
In a news release, the hospital referred to Strotman as a “former employee.” As a precaution, the hospital shut down its NICU while the inquiry was ongoing. It reopened in February.
“We are both shocked and saddened by this development in the investigation and are focused on continuing to care for our patients and providing support to our colleagues who have been deeply and personally impacted by this investigation,” according to a statement. “We are grateful to those colleagues, who have dedicated their professional lives to the care and safety of our patients, as well as to law enforcement and the other agencies who have worked aggressively and tirelessly with us on this investigation.”
Noah Hackey, one of the babies alleged to have been abused in the summer of 2023, had a shattered tibia. Noah’s father, Dominque Hackey, told WTVR that Noah and his twin Micah were born prematurely at the hospital in August 2023 and spent time in the NICU.
When Noah was around two weeks old, they noticed some discolouration on his left leg. An X-ray revealed a fracture of the tibia. The family filed a report with Child Protective Services, which ruled that an employee was responsible for breaking the boy’s leg but did not specify which employee.
Hackey was taken aback to learn that his son was not the only one who had reportedly been assaulted.
Prosecutors also collected Strotman’s text messages, which they said provided insight into her thoughts.
During a bond hearing earlier this year, prosecutors added some of Strotman’s text exchanges to the record, according to a courtroom report from Richmond CBS affiliate WTVR. In a text conversation dated October 2023, she apparently stated that she was pacing and felt like she had used “cocaine again,” despite the fact that she had not. She also stated that she believed she had a personality problem.
The day before her arrest, she allegedly texted that she was “five seconds away from checking myself into crisis.”
Strotman remains free on bond.