Unlicensed day care owner beats infant boy, causes blindness and brain damage

A Kansas woman was convicted Friday of abusing a 4-month-old boy to the point he was left blind and with serious brain injuries.

Paige Hatfield, 27, was found guilty of aggravated battery for abuse she inflicted on infant Kingston Gilbert in January 2017. Gilbert had been in Hatfield’s care for 11 days when the incident occurred, according to WDAF.

On January 31, Hatfield called 911 and claimed the infant was vomiting. Doctors later determined his injuries were caused by “extreme violence” and were “only caused by violent non-accidental physical trauma,” court documents stated.

“We spent 18 days in the intensive care unit just praying that he got through,” the victim’s mother told WDAF. “We were told by doctors he is never going to be the same boy. I mean, we pretty much had to grieve the loss of our child and accept that the baby that we were bringing home was not the baby that I dropped off at daycare that day.”

Detectives said Hatfield denied that Gilbert suffered a fall or any other injuries while in her care. However, a doctor testified that bleeding the infant suffered in three parts of his brain and in the back of his eyes weren’t caused by a medical or genetic condition, according to The Kansas City Star.

The newspaper reported that the jury also granted the prosecutor’s motion to allow the judge to impose a sentence longer than what’s outlined in state sentencing guidelines. Hatfield will be sentenced on March 28.

 

[Featured image: Paige Hatfield/Johnson County Court]