Virginia — The Virginia Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurse accused of breaking the bones of vulnerable babies has been charged with causing additional injuries over a three-year period.
Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, 26, was charged in January with malicious 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 new counts of felony child abuse and neglect on Tuesday, according to court records.
According to local CBS affiliate WTVR, the charges stem from her treatment of four babies between 2022 and 2024. The neglect charge stems from her treatment of a fifth infant, who was not injured.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor told reporters Tuesday, following Strotman’s first round of charges, that a family’s attorney informed her office of an assault in 2022. No one reported the assault to authorities at the time, she said.
“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 authorities are still looking into allegations that Strotman assaulted four other infants. She has not been charged in those cases.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, Strotman allegedly injured several children. According to the hospital, three babies experienced “unexplained fractures” in November 2024. According to the hospital, four other babies sustained similar injuries during the summer of 2023.
Investigators from the Henrico County Police Division reviewed dozens of videos from inside the NICU and identified Strotman. Detectives continue to sift through evidence, including “hundreds of hours of footage,” in the hopes of bringing justice to each baby 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 press release, the hospital referred to Strotman as a “former employee.” As a precaution, the hospital shut down its NICU while the investigation 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, suffered a broken 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 about two weeks old, they noticed some discoloration on his left leg. An X-ray revealed a fracture of the tibia. The family filed a report with Child Protective Services, which determined 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 allegedly been abused.
“They failed strictly on multiple levels with multiple different families, and they need to be held accountable as well because that shouldn’t have happened,” according to him. “If they were suspicious enough to let someone go, they should not have returned them. Simply put, they failed.
Prosecutors also obtained Strotman’s text messages, which they claim provided insight into her mindset.
During a bond hearing earlier this year, prosecutors added some of Strotman’s text messages to the record, according to a courtroom report from Richmond CBS affiliate WTVR.
In a text message from October 2023, she reportedly stated that she was pacing and felt like she had taken “cocaine again,” despite the fact that she had not. She also stated that she believed she had a personality disorder.
“I feel manic,” she wrote. “It takes everything in me not to start s—.”
The day before her arrest, she allegedly texted that she was “five seconds away from checking myself into crisis.”
Strotman remains free on bond.
