A 41-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of felony child abuse after witnesses reported an alleged assault involving a 22-month-old girl at a park in Lincoln on Monday.
The Lincoln Police Department said in a Thursday statement that its officers responded to Markham Ravine Park on Toyon Circle for a welfare check after a caller reported seeing a child being abused by an adult woman Monday.
Two witnesses followed the suspect — identified as Suzanne Michelle Buhler, 41, of Lincoln — to a nearby residence, where officers continued their investigation.
Officers later arrested Buhler and booked her on felony child abuse charges, police said. Jail records show Buhler was released that day. No case had been filed in Placer County Superior Court as of Thursday afternoon.
The victim’s mother, whom The Sacramento Bee is not identifying because her child was a victim of abuse, had hired Buhler on Care.com after her previous nanny left for cosmetology school.
She described Buhler as “Nanny McPhee,” stating that her nearly 2-year-old daughter thrived with Buhler, who started coming around the house in December. She said her daughter learned her ABCs and how to count to 10 with Buhler’s help.
But around February, as the family began potty training, the mother said she noticed changes in her daughter’s behavior.
“I would say she got a little bit aggressive,” the mother told The Sacramento Bee. “Kind of biting females, not males. I’m just all putting this in perspective now, like I didn’t see this until now.”
Then Monday’s incident happened, the parents said.
According to the parents, two landscapers noticed her daughter screaming at the park.
“They could see something like a rolling, like something not normal,” the mother said of the incident involving her daughter. She accused the babysitter of throwing her daughter off the slide and punching her stomach area.
“My daughter pooped her pants,” the mother said. “Sue was pissed off that she pooped her pants.”
The mother said one of the landscapers began recording the incident.
The child’s father, who later watched footage taken at the park, said his daughter’s legs were in the air as she was being changed on the grass. He said that in the video, Buhler had her right arm raised as she held the child down.
“She raised her hand above her head and had significant force coming down on my baby’s sweet face,” the father said.
Police said the child had visible injuries consistent with the reported assault.
Investigators said Buhler had previously advertised nanny services on multiple websites and apps, including Care.com and Facebook.
Capt. Zach Eaton, a spokesperson for the Lincoln Police Department, said officers nearly three years ago investigated an incident in which a child was reported injured while in Buhler’s care.
“Based on the evidence available then, detectives determined the case did not meet the legal threshold of probable cause to make an arrest or to proceed with criminal filing,” he said. “As a result of the new allegations in this current case, we are re-opening the 2023 investigation and have submitted it to the Placer County District Attorney’s Office for review.”
The Lincoln Police Department said it takes allegations of child abuse extremely seriously.
“Protecting children is a top priority, and we will pursue a thorough investigation and hold offenders accountable,” the department said.
Anyone with information related to the case or prior contact involving Buhler’s child care services was urged to contact the Lincoln Police Department investigations division at 916-645-4047.
This story was originally published March 19, 2026 at 2:05 PM.
Related Stories from Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee
Nicole Buss is The Sacramento Bee’s Roseville/Placer County watchdog reporter. She previously covered Placer County at Gold Country Media. Buss grew up in Lincoln and is a graduate of Sierra College and Arizona State University.