A Utah Valley Hospital neonatal intensive care unit nurse was charged Tuesday with aggravated child abuse after he allegedly bruised a crying baby.
The nurse, 29-year-old Kaycen Caldwell, is charged with a third-degree felony after prosecutors say he negligently injured the child. Though Caldwell denied hurting the infant in an interview with police, a probable cause statement alleges that the baby’s injuries were “clearly consistent with squeeze and grab marks from hands.”
The infant’s grandmother was watching a livestream of the baby on the AngelEye app on Nov. 2 when she saw a nurse, later identified as Caldwell, “throw the infant into its crib and handle the infant roughly,” prosecutors wrote in charging documents filed in Provo’s 4th District Court.
The next day, the family saw the infant had bruises across its body. A child abuse pediatrician with the Center for Safe and Healthy Families at the University of Utah concluded the bruising on the infant’s forearms, chest and thighs “was not consistent with the care the victim was receiving” and resulted from “aggressive handling,” charging documents state.
Caldwell told Provo police investigators that he was the infant’s only caregiver that night, according to a probable cause statement.
He said the infant started crying around 8:40 p.m., and he “couldn’t really figure out what was happening.” He decided the baby needed to go to the bathroom and performed abdominal massages, moved the infant’s legs in “bicycles” and pushed its knees into its chest to help, a police officer wrote in a probable cause statement.
Caldwell denied injuring the infant, saying he “had hands only on the infant’s tummy and did not lay hands on the infant’s arms other than for swaddling.”
He was booked into the Utah County jail Monday afternoon and released the next day, jail records show. No court dates have been scheduled as of Wednesday afternoon.
When reached for comment, hospital officials said Caldwell had been placed on administrative leave and released a statement saying: “We take the safety and welfare of all our patients very seriously. We are aware of these serious accusations and are fully cooperating with investigators in this matter.”