6-month-old girl dies of injuries sustained while in the care of a child minder
A 6-month-old baby girl has died after she sustained a fractured skull while she was in the care of a child minder in Kessel-Lo, near Leuven (Flemish Brabant). Earlier this week the baby girl fractured her skull and suffered a brain haemorrhage while she with the child minder. The girl was taken to hospital where she was kept in an induced coma but has since died.
The child minder maintains that the baby girl’s injuries were accidental. However, the police surgeon that examined the 6-month-old doesn’t believe the child-minder.
The 33-year-old child minder claims that the baby fell from a changing table when she was changing her nappy. However, the police surgeon that examined the baby says that her injures were so serious that they could not have been caused solely by a soft fall.
Assault and battery
After the baby had been examined by a police surgeon the child minder was detained on suspicion of deliberate assault and battery. After questioning she was released on conditional bail. One of the conditions of her bail is that she may not work with minors while the investigation is still ongoing.
The Flemish agency responsible for child minding and crèche facilities ‘Agentschap Opgroeien’ had temporarily suspended the woman’s licence to operate as a child-minder as a precautionary measure.
The agency’s Nele Wauters told VRT News that has been done "As this is a serious injury and has a big impact on all concerned. We also don’t yet know exactly what happened”.