A New York nurse has been arrested after she was allegedly filmed slamming a newborn face-down into his crib earlier this year.
Amanda Burke, 29, has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
It comes more than two months after Fidel Sinclair allegedly recorded the nurse violently slamming his son Nikko face-down into a bassinet following the baby’s birth at Good Samaritan Hospital in Long Island, NBC reported. The video was captured through the nursery window.
Nikko’s parents then contacted the nurse and hospital staff. Ms Burke was fired within hours of the incident.
“The allegations against this defendant, who is someone entrusted with the care of our most vulnerable citizens, are truly disturbing,” District Attorney Raymond Tierney said after announcing the charges.
“I want to commend the members of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Special Victims Unit for their hard work in this case, and together we will continue to fight to protect the rights and safety of all Suffolk County residents.”
Ms Burke surrendered to the Suffolk County Police Department on Wednesday morning. Her attorney, Robert Gottlieb, told CBS News that the charges are unjustified.
“Amanda is an outstanding, exemplary, compassionate nurse who did not and would never do anything to endanger any infant or patient under her care,” Mr Gottlieb said in a statement to the outlet. “The baby involved was not injured or ever placed in any danger of injury. The District Attorney’s statements are off base and not justified by all the facts that will come out in court.”
The parents of the baby told NBC at the time of the incident that the video was “heartbreaking.”
“I told her ‘I don’t want you to touch my child. You just slammed him,’” Consuelo Saravia said. “She said ‘Oh no, if you think I mishandled him or anything, I’m sorry.’”
The New York State’s Department of Education’s Office of Professional Discipline has been informed of the investigation into Ms Burke’s actions, but her license to practice as a registered nurse has not been suspended.
Ms Burke is scheduled to appear in court on 2 May for an arraignment hearing.
