A judge has found a Virginia nurse guilty of felony child abuse for fracturing the bones of several infants when she worked in a neonatal intensive care unit at a Richmond hospital.
Erin Strotman, 27, pleaded no contest on Jan. 15 to 20 charges filed against her, including malicious wounding and child abuse, for several incidents between 2022 and 2024 in which she injured nine babies while working at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital.
When hospital administrators launched an internal investigation in 2024, they said that three babies at that time were found with “unexplainable fractures.”
A criminal complaint stated that surveillance video showed Strotman abusing a 5-month-old infant in November 2024. The footage reportedly showed the former nurse taking the infant by his legs and pushing the child’s legs to the point his feet reached his head.
The hospital noted the incident looked similar to another case in 2023. That year, Strotman was placed on administrative leave but was allowed to return to the hospital in 2024.
After the criminal investigation was launched, more developments emerged that linked Strotman to cases involving nine wounded babies in total.
She was ultimately charged with 20 counts of malicious wounding and felony child abuse.
The Virginia Nursing Board suspended her nursing license in May 2025.
According to WRIC, a judge found Strotman guilty of nine felony child abuse charges after she pleaded no contest to all counts.
She will be sentenced on June 5 and will remain out on bond until her sentencing date.
Prosecutors’ sentencing recommendation for the former nurse is three years in prison as part of their plea agreement.
“There’s been a lot of negotiation and we think that we are reaching a just, fair and reasonable resolution,” Strotman’s attorney, Jeffrey Everhart, told WRIC. “Both parties are giving up some things and both parties are ceding some things.”
Strotman’s case drew national attention after some allegations surfaced on social media and in at least one news report that she was targeting and wounding infants who were Black.
Henrico Police contested those reports, stating that their investigation had determined the accusations weren’t accurate.
“Henrico Police is aware of editorial social media videos discussing the Henrico Doctors’ Hospital NICU investigation,” the statement reads. “These individuals in the video claim the victims were targeted by the suspect on account of their race. The preliminary investigation indicates this information is not factual.”
Two Black parents, Tori and Dominique Hackey, spoke to news outlets last year after learning that their baby’s injuries were part of the criminal investigation.
Police were looking into the injuries of seven babies at that point, and Dominique Hackey shared on TikTok that he learned three of those wounded infants were Black and four were white.
