Nurse accused of injuring NICU babies loses license, faces more charges

A former NICU nurse accused of felony child abuse and malicious wounding for allegedly injuring premature babies in her care faces additional charges and the suspension of her nursing license.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Former NICU nurse Erin Strotman’s license has been revoked by the Virginia Board of Nursing, calling her “a substantial danger to public health or safety.”

• Strotman is charged with injuring nine infants in the NICU from 2022-2024, some as young as 23 weeks and weighing 11 ounces. Additional charges for “malicious wounding” and “class four felony child abuse and neglect” were added early this month, bringing the counts against her from 12 to 20.

• Though previous reports suggested the children may have been targeted by race, investigations have found no evidence of this.

THE DETAILS:

On May 2, the Virginia Board of Nursing suspended 26-year-old Erin Strotman’s nursing license. The 16-page order detailed allegations of the abuse of babies as young as 23 weeks and weighing as little as 11 ounces, at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, where Strotman worked.

Among the injuries detailed in the nursing board’s report are multiple instances of “fractures,” “bruising on chest,” “bruising in the shape of fingerprints,” and “mishandling on video.” The report offers shocking details of the abuse, which the Virginia Board of Nursing say warranted Strotman’s license suspension, as she is “a substantial danger to public health or safety.” She has thus far been charged with injuring nine NICU infants in her care from 2022 and 2024.

Strotman was previously facing 12 criminal charges for felony child abuse and/or neglect. On May 7, a special grand jury brought eight additional charges against her, including four counts of malicious wounding and four counts of class four felony child abuse and neglect. She now faces a total of 20 charges.

Though earlier reports suggested that she may have been targeting victims based on their race, Henrico Police Chief Eric English has stated that preliminary investigations found no evidence of racial targeting.

Henrico Doctors’ Hospital has also come under investigation from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) for its role in failing to prevent the abuse of the babies in its care. For instance, after hospital officials began to suspect Strotman of abuse in 2023, she was temporarily placed on paid administrative leave. Later, in 2024, she was allowed to return to work. Though surveillance videos were put in the NICU to watch her activity, no one was monitoring the cameras, allowing her to allegedly continue abusing victims.

Strotman has been out on bond since February. Though the state asked a judge earlier this month to revoke her bond, the judge refused. She is scheduled for a trial in February 2026.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

In several states, children are aborted at the same ages (and even older) as the babies allegedly abused by Strotman. In or out of the womb, preborn children are human beings with an intrinsic right to life, and deserve legal protection from harm.