A Brooklyn night nurse received a 30-day jail term Monday after being captured on camera hitting and shaking a premature infant at a Westchester County house last year, according to authorities.
In addition to being placed on probation for three years, Gwendolyn Blake, 40, was essentially barred from working as a nurse for the duration of that period after striking the five-week-old child.
The defendant had been tasked with tending to the newborn of a family in the town of Mamaroneck on August 30, 2023, when she hit the child as he was crying, according to the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors said that the ruthless nurse repeatedly struck the child’s face, held his head, and shook him – as captured on surveillance video.
“This is a preemie who is colicky because of his low birth weight and instead of being treated with love and compassion, he was abused for being in pain”, the baby’s family said in a statement. “This has been a nightmare for our sons, our family, and our community (…), we will never be able to trust anyone with our children and are overly skeptical of anyone they interact with.”
Blake was taken into custody on September 5, 2023, and in May she entered a guilty plea to two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a minor.
Blake has been prohibited from providing care for the elderly, children, or other vulnerable groups as part of his probation. She will also be kept apart from the victim and his family by a permanent order of protection.
