Montgomery County caregiver charged with assaulting 2 babies at child care facility

OAKS, Pa. (WPVI) -- The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office says a caregiver at an early learning center has been arrested and charged with assaulting two infant girls in her care.

Catalina Baldwin, 37, of Phoenixville, was arrested Thursday on two counts of aggravated assault, simple assault, endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering another person.

The case against Baldwin was laid out in a criminal complaint. It says police were called to the Oaks Early Learning Center off Egypt Road on July 9 for reports of an unresponsive 7-month-old girl.

The infant, who was in Baldwin's care, had arrived at the facility a few hours earlier, happy and alert. It was her third day being cared for at the facility in Montgomery County.

Investigators stated the little girl was rushed to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in King of Prussia with extensive injuries, and then she was flown to CHOP in Philadelphia for further treatment.

According to the criminal complaint, "Part of her skull had to be removed to assist with treatment."

It also states the child "was found to have too-numerous-to-count retinal hemorrhages in both eyes in multiple layers of her retinas, which is consistent with traumatic origin." And, she "was found to have injuries to the ligaments in her cervical spine, consistent with trauma."

CHOP's Child Protection Team told investigators the child's injuries were life-threatening "and appear to have been caused by traumatic force."

They described the injuries as being comparable to ones "suffered from a fall from a very high height (ex: such as from a building) or a motor vehicle crash."

The child remains at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, undergoing rehabilitation and treatment.

At the childcare center, Baldwin told investigators there were no accidental incidents, such as drops or falls.

During her interview with police, Baldwin stated that when the baby began to cry at one point, she placed her on a play mat on her stomach.

"Baldwin then heard a large burp, looked over at the child, and observed that the child had vomit in front of her on the play mat. Baldwin cleaned up the vomit, then picked up the child to burp her and hold her. Baldwin stated that was when the child's head rolled back in her arms," the complaint said.

Days later, on July 18, detectives interviewed Baldwin again. At that time, Baldwin consented to a search of her cellphone.

Upon searching her phone, detectives found a text message Baldwin sent to another daycare worker on the morning of July 9, calling the child "a nightmare." That message was deleted prior to Baldwin's meeting with police.

According to the complaint, the search of Baldwin's cell phone also revealed that on July 11, she conducted a Google search of "Shaken Syndrome."

At the same time, police were also investigating a report of a 5-month-old girl injured at the center in late May while under Baldwin's care. That infant was ultimately admitted to CHOP for a traumatic injury in her mouth that required a feeding tube.

According to the child's mother, she received a message from the learning center on May 29 stating her baby had experienced unexplained mouth bleeding.

The complaint states that on May 30, Baldwin and the director of the center told the infant's mother that the baby "caused the injury herself by placing a broken wicker basket in her mouth."

However, the CHOP Child Protection Team told investigators the injury was "highly concerning for non-accidental trauma/child physical abuse."

Oaks Early Learning Center released a statement to Action News, saying Baldwin had a spotless record prior to these allegations. She had worked at the facility for five years, and according to the complaint, she was considered the lead caregiver in the infant room. The center said she will not be working there while the charges are pending.

The statement also said, "We are conducting an investigation. We want to arrive at and embrace the truth...To ensure the safety of the children in our care, we are installing video cameras in all of the rooms. This is of the utmost importance to us: the love and care of the children and staff that work at Oaks Early Learning Center. The child and the family are in our prayers."

Baldwin was arraigned Thursday and sent to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.

According to the district attorney, bail was set at $500,000, with additional conditions of no unsupervised contact with minors and no contact with victims and their families.

She remains in custody.