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A 73-year-old woman accused of assaulting a 16-month-old girl in a county Cork daycare center by pulling her hair, squeezing her face, yelling at her and hitting her against a chair has had her case thrown out.
Judge Colm Roberts said after a case that dragged on today: “I can only determine the matter on the basis of the evidence. I am not satisfied that the state has met the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. I think it would not be safe to condemn him. I have to say goodbye, ”he said.
Judge Roberts thanked Detective Sergeant Anne Marie Guiney from the Protective Services Unit and the Gardaí involved in the investigation for bringing the case to the Cork District Court.
“I am glad that the guards are treating these cases with the seriousness they deserve.” The retiree was working in daycare at the time, but no longer works there.
Another member of the nursery staff informed Gardaí that he saw the defendant assault the girl after the girl allegedly bit the hand of another baby.
The witness claimed that the 73-year-old woman grabbed the boy by both cheeks and squeezed his face while yelling at him and shaking her head.
Apparently there was a second part of the incident in which the defendant grabbed the girl by the back of the head, shook her and yelled at her, causing the girl to lose her balance, fall and hit her head with soil.
Furthermore, it was alleged that the accused took the girl’s own hand and caused her to hit her face.
All of these accusations were denied by the defendants.
The defendant is not named in this case, as it could lead to the identification of the baby who cannot be identified under the provisions of the Children’s Law.
Judge Colm Roberts questioned the lead witness following her direct testimony to Inspector Martin Canny and cross-examination of defense attorney Frank Buttimer.
The judge said that if he had seen a child being assaulted by someone else who worked at the nursery, he should not have intervened or reported it immediately. The witness agreed that he should have.
The judge said he was concerned that another witness in the room was not only unable to corroborate the complaint, but refuted it completely. Other witnesses in the wider area were also unable to corroborate the claim, the judge said.
Her attorney asked the 73-year-old defendant how she felt about the accusations against her. She replied, “I am appalled by some of the evidence that people think I would do something like that to a child.” She said all she did was pick up the boy bitten in the hand by the 16-month-old girl, calmed him down and put Arnica in his hand.
She said that she later told the girl, “Don’t do that. We don’t do that in daycare. It’s not allowed. “She added,” I didn’t get any reaction. She was too young. ”
Mr. Buttimer asked, “Did you attack her?” She denied any aggression and said again that she told the 16-month-old girl: “We don’t bite. Biting is not allowed in daycare. “The witness who described the disputed assault said the 73-year-old man grabbed the girl by the hair with one hand, grabbed her face, shook her, yelled at her and threw her at a chair.
“The accusations are not true. It did not happen. They are not true, ”the 73-year-old testified today. When asked if she had received childcare training, she said, “No, I didn’t. I did a course on first aid and handling of children. I never went to college. ”
Judge Roberts told the infant’s parents that the only court was the 73-year-old man and that the investigation into the nursery management was for another day.
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