A 44-year-old nanny who has worked for “a number of different families” for over a decade has been charged with felony child abuse this week after being caught on video using “physical violence” against a baby boy who wouldn’t go to sleep, Berkeley Police report.
According to court papers, the nanny can be seen in surveillance footage earlier this month “hitting, slapping, throwing, dragging and forcing the victims head into its bed causing the victim to cry uncontrollably.”
Last week Friday, Oct. 28, police were called to the allegation of child abuse in Berkeley against nanny Ingrid Perez shortly after 11:20 p.m. The location of the call was not provided.
According to a BPD statement released Thursday afternoon, “The Officer responded to the scene and made contact with the parents of the 6 month old boy who provided video from their in home surveillance system which depicted physical violence against the infant. The child was examined and released from a local hospital with no apparent injuries.”
But the surveillance footage, as described by police, paints a troubling picture. Perez can be seeing entering the boy’s bedroom and using force to get him to quiet down, according to police.
“It appears that she uses her knuckles as if she is knocking on a door, on the back of the victims head and tells him to Shhh. Perez then forcibly moved the victim to the top of the crib nearly hitting his head on the railing of the crib. She turned his head to the right and appears to shove his head into the bed with her left hand. Perez then … hits the victim in the bottom causing the victim to cry louder,” police wrote.
The nanny then grabbed a blue blanket and covered the boy’s head with it, “and once again starts to shove the victims head into the bed,” according to police. The footage was from Oct. 19, according to court papers.
Berkeley Police Special Victims Unit detectives took Perez into custody Monday at 8:35 a.m., in the 1300 block of Gilman Street, while she was heading to another child care job.
She remains in custody at Santa Rita Jail, according to online records from the Alameda County sheriff’s office records online, and is being held without bail. Her next court date was not listed.
Perez was charged Wednesday by the Alameda County district attorney’s office with one count of felony child abuse and one misdemeanor count of cruelty to a child by endangering health.
In court papers the boy’s age is listed as 5 months old at the time of the video footage.
BPD said Perez “has worked as a nanny for a number of different families for over 10 years. Those who she has worked for recently as a shared nanny have all been contacted to ensure that their children were not harmed.”
Police ask community members to contact Detective Melissa Kelly with BPD’s Special Victim’s Unit at 510-981-4760 if they have information regarding this case.
Have a question about a local public safety incident? Write to crime@berkeleyside.com. Photographs and videos are always appreciated. This story was updated after publication after additional information was made available by authorities.
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