Inset: Cindy Desser (Bensalem Police Department). Background: Locust Avenue in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, where Desser allegedly assaulted a 3-year-old girl (Google Maps).
In a disturbing case out of Pennsylvania, a nurse is accused of physically abusing a 3-year-old girl requiring constant medical attention by allegedly slamming, slapping, and interfering with her tracheostomy tube.
Authorities have charged 58-year-old Cindy Desser with child endangerment, as reported by the Bensalem Police Department. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, Desser was employed as an overnight nurse for the child at her family’s residence in Bensalem, a suburb of Philadelphia. The situation came to light in October when the child’s mother discovered bruises on her daughter’s inner thigh while changing her diaper.
Concerned, the mother took her daughter to the hospital, where medical staff identified the bruise as resembling a thumbprint.
Upon reviewing footage from a surveillance camera in the child’s room, the parents reportedly saw Desser striking the child on several occasions and handling her roughly in her crib. The footage also allegedly showed an incident where the child dislodged her tracheostomy tube, and Desser was seen delaying its reinsertion, telling the child, “you did this,” while the girl struggled to breathe. The complaint further noted that Desser was observed sleeping during her shift.
Desser was employed by Dynamic Home Health Care, and police indicated she violated several of the company’s protocols and ethical standards.
The child’s parents, who have chosen to remain unidentified, shared their ordeal with local ABC affiliate WPVI. They explained that Desser was appealing due to her two decades of experience and her previous care for another child with the same lung condition. Their daughter, born prematurely at only 14 ounces, requires specialized medical care.
“She likes nights,” the mom told WPVI about Desser. “You don’t find that. It was almost like too good to be true.”
Unfortunately for the girl and her parents, it appears that it was.
Watching the video of their daughter gasping for air after Desser allegedly withheld her tracheostomy tube was especially hard.
“This was the most disturbing one. Thank God my daughter is so strong,” the mother told the outlet. “It was just horrific. I just couldn’t believe it. It’s like almost like monsters come out at night.”
The father called the whole situation a nightmare. Another alleged incident also stood out to him.
“All our little girl did was sit up and look at her for a minute and she got shoved to the ground. It’s really sick and horrible,” he said.
He hopes Desser loses her nursing license and faces justice.
“I just hope she gets to sit in a room with other people that did bad things,” he told WPVI. “A snake can shed its skin so many times and it’s still a snake. So, you gotta watch out.”
WPVI reports that Desser has since been fired from her job. She remains in the Bucks County Jail on a $2 million bond. Her next court date is set for April 7.
