Former NICU nurse enters plea on abuse charges
Erin Strotman will be sentenced in June
RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) — Former Henrico Doctors’ NICU nurse Erin Strotman is facing prison time after she pleaded no contest on Thursday to abuse charges dating back several years.
Strotman, 27, pleaded no contest to nine charges of felony child abuse. She was initially facing 20 charges for her handling of nine babies between 2022 and 2024.
On Thursday, a plea agreement was presented to Judge Richard S. Wallerstein Jr. for a maximum sentence of three years for Strotman, and he accepted it.
Part of the plea agreement requires Strotman to never practice nursing or any related healthcare job again, nor work with minors or vulnerable adults.
Her defense attorneys argued that the video evidence presented in court on Thursday did not sure any signs of malice or malicious intent, and that Strotman loved her job as a nurse.
Strotman will stay on house arrest and maintain the terms set in her bond agreement until her sentencing date of June 5 at 11 a.m. At that time the victims’ families will be allowed to speak.
“I have always made it a priority to ensure that we would be able to ask the Court to hold Erin Strotman accountable for all of the families being impacted,” said Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor. “We made a promise to these families that we would continue to work on this matter, and I intended for us to keep that promise.”
Full timeline of the case:
Henrico Doctors’ Hospital paused all neonatal intensive care unit admissions after three pre-term babies were found with bone fractures.
“In late November/December, STAFF discovered that three babies AT Henrico Doctors’ Hospital NICU had unexplainable fractures, similar to an incident involving four babies in the summer of 2023,” the hospital said in a post on their website.
It was discovered that seven babies in total ended up with unexplained injuries at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital. Four cases were reported around the summer of 2023, and three more were reported in November and December of 2024.
HCA, the network that oversees Henrico Doctors’ Hospital, vowed to implement safety changes while it barred the NICU from accepting any new admissions.
Pediatric nurse Erin Elizabeth Ann Strotman, 26, of Chesterfield, was charged with felony malicious wounding and felony child neglect stemming from the November 2024 incident. Strotman was put on paid administrative leave for a year after the 2023 cases of NICU abuse came to light, and then was allowed to return in late 2024. She was fired from Henrico Doctors’ Hospital on Jan. 2 and was arrested later that day.
A report from the Virginia Department of Health revealed that Henrico Doctors’ Hospital requires all suspected abuse cases in hospitals to be reported within 24 hours. The report found that it did not happen in the case of four premature babies. Each child was discovered to have “unexplained fractures” between Aug. 5 and Sept. 5, 2023, but VDH or social services were not notified until Sept. 20.
The health department also learned from inspections and interviews with staff that Henrico Doctors could not identify all staff members who came into contact with each patient or collected lab results, violating policies.
A criminal complaint against Strotman says a 5-month-old boy was found with multiple leg and rib fractures in November 2024. The complaint also says there is video evidence of her taking a 5-month-old baby boy by the legs and applying pressure, going on to say that the baby was crying and seemed to be in distress. She was denied bond in court.
Strotman, while on paid administrative leave from Henrico Doctors’, answered a central Virginia family’s ad seeking to provide private in-home nursing care for their baby boy. That family shared that Strotman told them, “She had been placed on administrative leave because of some concern about tuberculosis exposure.”
Henrico Doctors’ Hospital reopened its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for new admissions after implementing additional safety measures, including mandatory training for all healthcare providers who interact with minors, focused on identifying and reporting any signs that may indicate a child’s well-being is at risk and additional infection prevention measures and comprehensive training for all NICU colleagues.
Strotman was released from jail on a $25,000 bond with terms that include house arrest with her parents and wearing a GPS monitor. She is also not allowed to be in the presence of minors or vulnerable adults or provide care to them.
Strotman was charged with two more counts of malicious wounding and four other counts of child abuse and neglect. These six new charges include two new babies who were allegedly harmed by Strotman, meaning she is now charged with abusing three of the seven injured children who are being investigated.
Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor told 12 On Your Side an additional baby has now been added to the investigation, making it eight who were injured while at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital. Strotman is charged with abusing three of them so far.
The Commonwealth brought six new indictments against Strotman that involve three babies:
- Malicious wounding and class 4 child neglect from Nov. 10, 2024 (Baby Y.H.)
- Malicious wounding and class 4 child neglect from Oct. 24 to Nov. 24, 2024 (Baby H.W.)
- Malicious wounding and class 4 child neglect from July 1 to Sept. 1, 2022 (Baby A.W.)
Taylor says they learned of a ninth baby after the family came forward, and an investigation showed injuries consistent with other babies hurt that had been linked to Strotman and added that Henrico Doctors’ Hospital did not report those injuries to Child Protective Services (CPS), as it should have.
She was arraigned on the new charges on April 23. Her next court appearance is scheduled for May 28.
Strotman’s nursing license was suspended, meaning that she could no longer practice. Click here for more information on Strotman’s license suspension.
The Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office filed even more charges against Strotman. These new charges are sealed, so the nature and number are unknown. Strotman faces these new charges in court on May 7 at 9 a.m.
Strotman was arraigned on eight new charges related to the abuse of four babies in 2023. She faces two charges of malicious wounding and felony child abuse/neglect for each baby.
That brings her total charges to 20, involving nine babies from 2022-2024.
A judge amended Strotman’s bond, allowing her to go outside of her parents’ home. She was also allowed to have visits from her sister’s children.
The lawyers of a former Henrico Doctors’ Hospital NICU nurse planned to enter guilty pleas and no contest for the multiple abuse charges.
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