Day Care Owner Charged With Shaking Baby: PD

A day care owner in Maryland who claims she resuscitated a 9-month-old baby has been charged with shaking the girl, according to Montgomery County Police.

Ana Isabel Valentin, 40, has been charged with first and second degree child abuse.

According to police, the baby was dropped off at Valentin's Rockville home on Jan. 5, 2015. That afternoon, Valentin called 911 to report that the baby girl wasn't breathing.

She later told police that she left the girl crying in a swing while she answered a knock at the door. When she returned a few minutes later, she found that the baby unresponsive and not breathing. She started CPR and called 911. During this time, she said the little girl started to breathe again.

Valentin told police that the baby had a "regular, normal day," but doctors at Children's Hospital determined that the child had been shaken.

The baby suffered bleeding above two halves of her brain and was not breathing for a unknown amount of time, a Children's Hospital doctor said. There were also no sign of any injuries prior to Jan. 5.

A little over a week after the incident, doctors were not able to get any visual response from the child. According to the hospital, the girl "is on the moderate to severe end of the spectrum for Shaken Baby Syndrome." The infant has also suffered multiple seizures.

Rene Sandler, Valentin's attorney, says her client denies the allegations against her. Valentin's day care is currently closed, but Sandler says Valentin intends to re-open as soon as the charges against her have been resolved.

Contact Us