Police: "Nanny cam" captures babysitter burning tot
DANBURY, Conn. -- Police say video from a "nanny cam" shows a babysitter beating a 3-year-old Connecticut girl and burning her on a hot stove.
Lidia Quilligana is in custody on a first-degree assault charge that carries a 20-year prison sentence. Following her arrest in late March, bail was set at $1 million after a prosecutor who saw the video argued for an increase from the $100,000 that was initially set.
Hearst Connecticut Media Group reported that a newly-released arrest report provides more details about the March 27 incident. Danbury Police Officer Thomas Geanuracos wrote in the arrest report that the video shows Quilligana put the child's hands on what appeared to be hot stove burners.
"In the footage, you can see the absolute fear and pain from the trauma in (the little girl's) facial expressions," Geanuracos wrote in the report, according to the paper.
In a statement to police, the mother reportedly said Quilligana told her the child had burned herself as they made pancakes. The mother discovered the alleged abuse after reviewing video from a camera she had secretly installed in December, when she had become suspicious about bruises on her daughter's body, reports the paper.
The paper didn't publish the mother's name in order to protect the child's identity.
The 31-year-old Quilligana has not entered a plea. Hearst Connecticut Media Group said her lawyer, Jennifer Tunnard, was not available for comment Wednesday. She did not immediately return a call early Thursday morning.