INFANT DIES AT DAY CARE CENTER
A Carpentersville woman has been accused of fatally injuring a 16-month old at Minee Subee in the Park, a Libertyville day care center. This tragic story is the worst nightmare for every parent who sends their child to day care. Parents place their trust in the facility and its employees to care for their children while they are at work. This senseless death is an absolute tragedy.
Police say Melissa Calusinski got so angry last Wednesday, January 14, 2009, that she threw the 16-month-old to the floor, fatally injuring him. She was charged over the weekend with two counts of first-degree murder. Police said Calusinski threw the boy to the floor when she grew frustrated that he was being noisy. His skull fractured, Benjamin grabbed his blanket and crawled to his "comfort zone," a bouncer seat, where he collapsed and later died, police said.
The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome explains that SBS/AHT (shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma) is a term used to describe the constellation of signs and symptoms resulting from violent shaking or shaking and impacting of the head of an infant or small child. Perpetrators who inflict shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma often injure the infant or child out of frustration or anger. This most often occurs when the baby won't stop crying. Other triggering events include toilet training difficulties and feeding problems.
In most circumstances, a day care center will be held responsible for the acts of its employees, including the teachers and other caregivers. Day care centers may also be held liable for negligently hiring a worker or by failing to properly investigate the individuals they hire.
If you are suspicious that a person who is caring for a child, who lives with a child, or who works with or around children has caused injury or harm or put a child at risk of physical injury, please call the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services at 1-800-25-ABUSE (in Illinois) or contact your state's children and family services department.
There is no excuse for this tragedy. If a child has been the victim of a caregiver's negligence, please contact the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll. We are experienced attorneys with the legal skills and resources necessary to investigate, prosecute and produce a successful outcome.
