News Blog
Day Care Provider Arrested for Child Abuse
March 30, 2011
Salinas police arrested a licensed day care provider on suspicion of felony child abuse on Tuesday. Maria Cardenas, 50, had been running a child care business in her Salinas home on Rincon Ave., where she allegedly shook a 7-month-old boy on Feb. 3.
The boy sustained severe head trauma and was hospitalized at Natividad Medical Center and then flown to a bay area hospital for emergency care, where doctors said he has suffered permanent brain damage. Natividad staff alerted Salinas police officers that the boy's injuries appeared to be the result of being violently shaken.
It was the boy's second day in Cardenas's care. A sergeant overseeing the case said about five children had been in her care.
"At this point we don’t have any indication that there are any further victims of child abuse," says Lalo Villegas, spokesperson for SPD. "But that is one of the reasons we want to get this out there. We definitely want people to come forward if they have information on her being rough with the kids."
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