Berlin Caretaker charged for abusing an eight month old baby girl
BERLIN, Md. – A caretaker in Worcester County is facing assault and child abuse charges on Thursday, and accused of hurting a young girl in her care.
Heather Ward is the suspect behind bars, the daycare worker accused of purposefully hurting an eight month old girl in her care while she worked at the Berlin Activities Depot.
Court documents show the investigation began when the infant was treated for a broken bone, specifically a fractured tibia just above her ankle on her left leg. Her mother saying she was fine before being taken to daycare, but that evening started having problems, and no one notified her of an injury.
That led investigators to check surveillance video from inside the Depot. That’s where investigators say Ward was seen striking the infant multiple time, grabbing her, force feeding her and even pushing her facedown in a crib.
Ward was placed on leave, but ultimately fired. The owner and operator of the berlin activities depot telling 47ABC they take the allegations very seriously.
“The allegations are awful and terrible and its not what we promote and not why we opened this business and we are horrified that anything like this could happen.”
Court documents also show that Ward was shown the surveillance video in question, and said in part, “I mean, I’m seeing, it’s on video and I can’t say I didn’t do it cause, I can see it.”
Also claiming she had no intentions of harming the children.
Officials took a look at additional video and say they found other incidents of Ward hurting the infant.
In total, she is facing fourteen counts of second degree assault and one count of child abuse, and while Ward no longer works at the Berlin Activities Depot, Owner Carmella Solito tells us they are already working to ensure nothing like this could ever happen again.
“We are putting enhanced measures in for parents and we have maintained and continued to maintain open communication with all families.”
Solito says the facility also has plans to improve the surveillance system, including providing a live stream for parents to access.
If convicted on all counts, Ward could be facing up to 155 years in jail.
