Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Upper Providence Township Police Chief Mark Freeman announced today the arrest of Catalina Baldwin, 37, of Phoenixville, for aggravated assault and related charges involving the assaults of two infants who were in her care at Oaks Early Learning Center in Oaks.
Officials said the investigation began on July 9 when Upper Providence police and EMS responded to a report of an unresponsive seven-month-old girl at the learning center. Upper Providence Township firefighters, who had been onsite at the daycare for an event, provided emergency aid to the infant who appeared to be having seizures.
The baby was then transported to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in King of Prussia where she was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma with mass effect, midline shift and an uncal herniation, the DA said. She was also found to have numerous retinal hemorrhages in both eyes and injuries to the ligaments in her cervical spine, both of which are consistent with non-accidental trauma. She was flown by helicopter to CHOP in Philadelphia where she underwent emergency surgery. Part of the infant’s skull had to be removed to assist with treatment and she remains hospitalized at the time of this writing.
Detectives learned that it was her third day at Oaks Early Learning Center, and that she was one of three babies in the infant room under the sole care of Baldwin. That morning, Baldwin texted the school director alerting her to the baby’s condition. The director then ran outside to get help from the firefighters and called 911.
Detectives learned that Baldwin had texted another teacher “(This baby) is a nightmare,” eight minutes prior to her contacting the director, and that Baldwin had Googled “Shaken Syndrome” on July 11, police said.
Upper Providence police were simultaneously investigating a report of a five-month-old girl who was injured while in the infant room at Oaks Early Learning Center. The baby’s mother received a message from Baldwin on May 29 that she had experienced unexplained bleeding in her mouth, to which Balwin replied that the baby had caused the injury by putting a broken wicker basket in her mouth.
The mother took her baby immediately to CHOP to have her evaluated, and ultimately, the baby had to be placed on a feeding tube due to the laceration in her mouth. The CHOP Child Protection Team said that injury was “highly concerning for non-accidental trauma/child physical abuse.” The infant was in the sole care of Baldwin at the time of the injury, police said.
Baldwin was arrested on two counts of Aggravated Assault, Simple Assault, Endangering the Welfare of a Child and Recklessly Endangering Another Person, the DA said. Bail was set at $500,000 with additional conditions of no unsupervised contact with minors and no contact with victims and their families.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for August 12, the DA said.
Photo: Montco DA