BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WKRC) — A Pennsylvania nurse is in custody after she allegedly harmed a child with “multiple medical issues” that she had been hired to care for.
Cindy Desser was arrested on March 25 by Bensalem Township police and is charged with endangering the welfare of children. According to a criminal complaint, the investigation into Desser began after she reportedly had been captured on home surveillance video smacking and slamming the 3-year-old girl, as well as pulling on the child’s tracheostomy tube, a medical device that provides a direct airway into the trachea.
The victim’s family said they hired Desser to be a night nurse for their daughter, who was born prematurely with life-threatening conditions affecting her heart and lungs.
“Twenty years’ experience in home care, taking care of a kid with the same lung disease as mine. She likes nights. You don’t find that. It was almost too good to be true,” the child’s mother told WPVI.
But, the family said, in October, Desser showed them a video of herself allegedly assaulting another child. They didn’t know what caused Desser to share this footage, but they decided to review their own home surveillance video. That’s when they said they discovered videos of the nurse assaulting their daughter, including a time when the girl had pulled out her tracheostomy tube and, according to the family, Desser was slow to replace it.
“You’re the one that did it. I don’t want to hear it,” Desser reportedly said in the video.
In another instance, Desser was asleep when she was supposed to be on duty. The girl’s father also said one recording showed the girl sit up and look at Desser before being shoved to the ground, while her mother said she found bruises on her daughter while changing her diaper.
After reviewing the footage, the parents learned Desser was being investigated for allegedly assaulting another child. Police said there may also be more victims.
Desser is currently in the Bucks County Jail on a $2-million bond. The company that hired her, Dynamic Home Health Care, says she is no longer employed with them.