HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Surveillance video shows a nurse abusing a premature baby in the neonatal intensive care unit of a West End hospital, according to a criminal complaint obtained by CBS 6.
The document, which was filed in Henrico Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court by an HPD detective, details a video recorded in the Henrico Doctors’ Hospital NICU on Nov. 10, 2024.
According to the complaint, Erin Strotman can be seen taking a 5-month-old baby boy’s legs and applying pressure to them.
Strotman is also observed placing her weight down on the legs of the infant and taking both legs and pushing them backward to the point where the baby’s feet reached his head, according to the document.
The detective wrote that the baby looked to be crying and in distress.
Strotman was later observed moving the baby’s right leg, and that leg did not move as freely back and forth as the left leg, according to the complaint.
WATCH: Nurse arrested week after Virginia hospital halted NICU admissions
Hospital officials later found that the child had suffered a fractured left femur, a fractured right tibia, and multiple rib fractures.
Henrico police responded to investigate on Nov. 22, twelve days after the video of the alleged abuse was recorded.
Strotman was arrested on Jan. 2 and charged with felony counts of malicious wounding and child abuse.
Hospital officials say two other babies were also found with unexplained fractures in November and December of 2024, and that the cases are similar to incidents involving four different premature infants who were being treated at the same NICU in 2023.
The hospital announced it was pausing admissions to the NICU right before Christmas, and the Virginia Department of Health has since placed the hospital’s license to operate on a conditional renewal.
As CBS 6 has previously reported, Strotman was placed on paid administrative leave in 2023 after the hospital conducted an internal investigation into the initial four cases and found that she had contact with all of the babies who suffered injuries, though Child Protective Services documents obtained by CBS 6 show that investigators ultimately could not definitively prove Strotman was responsible for abuse.
She was not criminally charged back then, and it’s unclear when Strotman’s suspension ended. CBS 6 has asked HCA, the company that runs Henrico Doctors’, for more details on when Strotman returned to work.
WATCH: Families of injured NICU babies react to charges against nurse
A separate VDH report obtained by CBS 6 shows the state cited the hospital for “failing to promote each patients’ rights by not reporting the suspected abuse within 24 hours of having reason to believe that the babies had been abused” in 2023.
Per the report, a corrective action plan implemented by the hospital included two new security systems, including cameras being put in every NICU room that allow parents to view their children around the clock.
A note on the report states that “since the implementation of these measures, there have been no additional unexplained fractures occurring in the NICU.”
When asked about the VDH findings, a spokesperson for HCA sent CBS 6 a statement that reads, in part: “Once we determined that the fractures could have been caused by something other than the development and size of the babies, we reported the fractures to the appropriate authorities, including cps, and fully assisted in the investigations they launched.”
Dominique Hackey, the father of one of the infants injured in 2023, tells CBS 6 that it outrages him that Henrico Doctors’ installed cameras after his baby received a fracture as a way to prevent future babies from getting hurt, and yet he feels like the hospital failed to protect its most vulnerable patients.
"If the cameras and the training were supposed to be preventative and more incidents happened, why wasn’t the NICU shut down then?" Hackey said. "For them to ignore the red flags and just keep business as usual — it’s outrageous, it’s maddening."
Strotman is currently being held at the Henrico Jail West and is scheduled to go before a judge for a bond hearing on Monday.
Local News
Henrico police warning of misinformation spreading regarding NICU investigation
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
📲: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky| Facebook| Instagram| X| Threads| TikTok| YouTube
Every day CBS 6 is Giving You A Voice. Share your voice with the CBS 6 Newsroomvia email hereor click here to submit a tip. You can also leave a message by calling 804-254-3672. Be sure to leave your name, phone number and detailed description of your story idea.
