Inset: Emily Duran (Allen County Jail). Background: The 100 block of West Superior Street in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where authorities say Duran slapped an infant, causing a brain bleed (Google Maps).
An Indiana babysitter accused of striking an infant with the force of a blow meant for an adult has been sentenced to prison after the child suffered what authorities described as serious injuries.
Emily Duran, 27, received a six-year prison sentence Monday, to be followed by three years of probation, according to court records. Duran pleaded guilty to battery to a child under 14 by a person at least 18 resulting in serious bodily injury. Under the terms of her plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed a separate charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury.
According to the Fort Wayne Police Department, officers were called to a local hospital on Dec. 11 after receiving a report that an infant had been brought in with severe injuries.
Police said the incident happened earlier that day in the 100 block of West Superior Street in Fort Wayne.
The parents left their then-7-month-old son with the babysitter shortly before 7 a.m., according to probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by local ABC affiliate WPTA.
According to the parents, the boy was fine when they left. When the parents came home around 5 p.m., however, they said Duran quickly left before they noticed “deep purple bruising” on the baby’s face from his jawline to his hairline, the affidavit said.
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Duran later texted one of the parents to say the boy had fallen earlier in the day. They then recorded a phone call with Duran, who claimed she and the boy were at the park when he fell off a bench.
The couple took the baby to the hospital, where doctors determined he was suffering from a brain bleed.
Medical experts reportedly later said there was “no explanation other than child abuse.” The child’s injuries were “inflicted” and could not have been an accident, according to the affidavit.
Police located Duran a couple of days later and took her in for an interview.
After being read her Miranda rights, Duran reportedly admitted to slapping the boy on one side of his face and backhanding him on the other side. The defendant allegedly said she “slapped him as hard as you would slap an adult.”
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