A Connecticut baby sitter was arrested after she was caught on a hidden nanny camera beating a 3-year-old girl and burning the child's hands on a hot stove, the Danbury News Times reported.
Lidia Quilligana was charged with first-degree assault in relation to the harrowing March 27 incident that took place at the toddler's home in Danbury.
While the mother was at work, the 31-year-old sitter was recorded grabbing the toddler by the throat and throwing her to the ground, Danbury police said. She then grabbed the child's wrists and "put her hands on what appeared to be hot stove burners," Danbury Police Officer Thomas Geanuracos said in the arrest report obtained by the newspaper.
"In the footage, you can see the absolute fear and pain from the trauma in (the little girl's) facial expressions," Danbury Police Officer Thomas Geanuracos said in the arrest report.
The toddler suffered second-degree burns on her hands and leg as a result of the abuse, according to the report.
Police say Quilligana jumped on the little girl as she lay on the ground before pulling her pants down and spanking her. The nanny also force-fed the toddler something that was too hot, leaving blisters in her mouth, according to the video.
When her mother returned, she noticed her daughter was covered in bruises and burns and took her to a doctor. Quilligana told the mother they were making pancakes when her daughter pulled her chair up to the stove while she wasn't looking and burned herself, the mother told police in the report.
Quilligana also allegedly said the toddler's black eye was from her hitting her eye on the stove knob when she fell, the Danbury News Times reported.
But the nanny camera, which the mother secretly installed last December, told a different story and she contacted police.
Quilligana's bail was originally set at $100,000 but increased to $1 million on the prosecutor's request after viewing the footage. The sitter has not yet entered a plea.
