A Virginia nurse has learned her sentence after she was convicted of injuring nine premature babies who suffered “unexplained fractures” while they were in her care in a hospital’s intensive care unit.
After Erin Strotman was accused of causing fractures to the limbs of at least nine infants at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, she was charged in January 2025 with malicious wounding and felony child abuse.
The initial incident involved one child and took place in November 2024, according to Law & Crime. An investigation was then launched into Strotman, 27, which revealed she was responsible for harming at least eight additional children.
The hospital claimed that three babies had suffered “unexplained fractures” while in her care in November 2024. Additionally, four other babies suffered similar injuries in the summer of 2023.
Footage allegedly caught Strotman injuring one child as she applied pressure on a 5-month-old baby boy’s legs and forced his feet to reach his head.
Strotman pleaded no contest in January to nine counts of child abuse involving nine infants. She was then convicted one month later in February.
The former nurse was eventually sentenced to serve three years in prison as part of a plea deal during a hearing on Friday, June 5.
Following the sentencing, Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor said that she negotiated the sentence with Strotman’s defense lawyers in exchange for the pleas.
Taylor added that there were challenges in prosecuting the case due to a lack of video evidence for some of the babies, as well as the hospital’s delayed reporting of the abuse.
“It wasn’t my choice that I wanted to actually do three years,” Taylor said, according to WTVR.
She then explained that she was limited by the state’s sentencing guidelines.
During the trial, Strotman’s lawyers reportedly argued that she never intended to harm the children and that she was using a specific gas-relief technique when she injured the infants.
The nurse addressed the families of her victims during the sentencing hearing.
“I would like to sincerely apologize for the accidental harm that was inflicted on the babies,” she reportedly said, per WWBT. “I never intended to hurt your children and I am so sorry.”
Strotman’s lawyers’ asked that she be sentenced to home confinement, but a judge denied the request, according to WTVR. Her lawyers also reportedly said that she could potentially be released early from prison for good behavior once she serves 65 percent of her sentence.
