A daycare worker in Wisconsin faces charges for allegedly fracturing a 3-month-old girl’s arm by forcefully placing her into a crib.
Ashley Karschnick, aged 32, refuted claims of being frustrated or slamming the infant into the crib, according to WBAY. She attributed the crib’s movement seen in the surveillance footage to her accidentally bumping it with her hip.
The incident occurred on October 13. Authorities from Fond Du Lac were alerted after the baby was admitted to Children’s Wisconsin in Milwaukee with a “minimally displaced spiral fracture of the mid-left humeral diaphysis,” as described in a criminal complaint. A physician at the hospital indicated that the baby’s condition aligned with signs of physical abuse.
Upon reviewing the surveillance footage from Lily Pad Day Care, investigators observed Karschnick growing “increasingly frustrated” throughout the day. Around 12:30 p.m., she was seen lifting the baby by the torso and forcefully placing her into the crib, causing the crib to rock noticeably and producing a loud thump as the child hit the mattress, prompting the baby to cry out.
Shortly afterward, Karschnick returned to the crib, potentially attempting a “starfish swaddle,” as noted in the complaint. The child’s cries intensified to the point of gasping for air, described by detectives as a “blood-curdling scream.”
Karschnick subsequently removed the child from the crib and placed her on the floor, where her left arm appeared limp and non-functional. The infant continued to scream in distress.
When detectives spoke with her on October 16, Karschnick denied being frustrated or slamming the child into the crib and said the screaming was the same cry she was giving me,” and “I feel like every time I touched her she was crying.”
Police charged her with child abuse-recklessly causing harm. She appeared in court last week and was given a $2,500 bond. According to WLUK, she is barred from having contact with children under the age of 12 except her own. She is due in court again on Tuesday.
