"Nanny charged after death of infant in Cambridge" by Travis Andersen | Globe Staff, January 22, 2013
A nanny who lives in Quincy was arrested Monday on a charge of assaulting a 1-year-old girl in her care in Cambridge who later died, and more charges are expected, the Middlesex district attorney’s office said.
Aisling McCarthy Brady, 34, is accused of assaulting the child on Jan. 14 and inflicting severe head injuries, District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr.’s office said in a statement. The child, whom authorities did not identify, died at Boston Children’s Hospital two days after the alleged assault.
“This is an extremely troubling case, where we allege the defendant violently assaulted a one-year-old child, causing a devastating head injury and broken bones,” Leone said in the statement....
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"Nanny held on high bail; old allegations come to light; Lawyer says client played no part in death" by Peter Schworm and Travis Andersen | Globe Staff, January 22, 2013
MEDFORD — Aisling McCarthy Brady, the Quincy nanny accused of assaulting the now-deceased toddler in her care, huddled out of sight in Cambridge District Court Tuesday morning, as her lawyer declared her innocence. Over the day, details emerged about Brady’s past, including previous allegations of violence and harassment.
During the arraignment, prosecutors said Brady, 34, injured 1-year-old Rehma Sabir while caring for the girl at her parents’ Cambridge apartment on Jan. 14. The toddler sustained massive head trauma, authorities said, and died two days later.
“It is very clear the only person who had direct contact with this child at the time of the injuries was the defendant,” Middlesex prosecutor Katherine Folger said.
Brady, a native of Ireland who has been in the country illegally, was ordered held on $500,000 bail. Prosecutors said they expect to charge Brady with murder when an autopsy is complete.
Doctors who examined the toddler found bruising and compression fractures in her spine that were “consistent with the slamming of a child,” Folger said, along with multiple bone fractures that had partially healed.
The child’s parents, identified as Sameer Sabir, a British native who studied at Harvard and MIT, and Nada Siddiqui, could not be reached Tuesday.
Brady’s attorney, Melinda Thompson, denied the accusations, describing Brady as a caring child-care provider who was in no way responsible for the “unspeakable tragedy.”
Thompson said the child had been traveling for weeks with her family, and had been diagnosed with malnutrition. After a lengthy trip to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the child was “very sick,” Thompson said. “Who knows what could have happened?” she asked.
In court, prosecutors described Brady’s account of the day Rehma was taken to the hospital. After the child’s mother left around 9:30 a.m., Brady said she played with the child, then put her down for a nap. When she awoke shortly after 1, Brady fed her lunch, but noticed the girl seemed sleepy. After seeing that Rehma had slumped in her highchair, Brady put her back in her crib.
A few hours later, Brady called 911 when the girl had an apparent seizure in her crib. When responders arrived, she was breathing but unconscious.
Brady, who had been caring for the toddler for about six months, went to the hospital with the family that evening and later exchanged text messages with them about her condition, Thompson said.
“She was mourning this child with the family,’’ said Thompson. She had fully cooperated with investigators and submitted to several hours of interrogation, she said.
“Ms. McCarthy has no idea what happened to this child.”
The infant had no “outward signs” of bruising or bleeding when she was taken to the hospital, Thompson said, suggesting the injuries may have been sustained earlier.
Outside the courtroom, Thompson said Brady was “devastated” by the child’s death and the accusations against her, and maintained her innocence.
As Brady was charged in court, details began to emerge about her past. One of 10 children, she had worked as a nanny since she came to the United States in 2002.
Brady has no criminal convictions, but in 2007 was charged with attacking her female roommate in Dorchester during an argument. The roommate “had a laceration to her right pinky finger, which she claimed was a bite received from Brady,” and also had a bite mark on her right bicep, according to a police report. Her roommate was also arrested in the altercation, and the case was dismissed.
Last March, a woman took out a restraining order against her, alleging that Brady harrassed her. The woman said Brady set up a fake Facebook profile in her name, falsely accused her of abusing children, and bothered her boss, in a campaign that began in August 2011.
In 2005, a man filed a restraining order after Brady allegedly attacked him in a bar for “talking to a lady friend.” She hit and scraped him in the face repeatedly “with closed fists and her finger nails,” the man complained.
“I’m afraid of the day that it’s going to be a beer bottle she hits me with, or worse,” he wrote.
Immigration officials said Tuesday that said Brady entered the United States from Dublin in 2002 under an international agreement that allows visitors to stay in the country for 90 days without documentation. She has not left the United States since, officials said.
“She did not depart as required,” said Ross Feinstein, a spokesman for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. “This is her first encounter since that time with immigration officials.’’
Officials will move to deport her once the criminal charges are resolved, he said.
In Cambridge, one business owner regularly saw Brady caring for the child, and saw nothing amiss. “We would see the kid going by almost every day. When the stroller went by, she would stop and let the kid wave,” said Dao Lee, 55, who owns a laundromat on Mt. Auburn Street, near where Brady cared for Rehma.
It is unclear how the parents had come to hire Brady, but she had posted her profile on several child-care websites, including sittercity.com, looking for work, and the website removed that posting on Tuesday.
“Immediately upon learning of this situation, we removed Ms. Brady from the Sittercity network, terminated her membership, and notified members with whom she had ever communicated, even though she has not been active on Sittercity for nearly a year,’’ the company said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for the state Department of Children and Families said Brady “does not have a history” with the agency.
The company said it routinely conducts background checks, but noted that she has no criminal convictions in Massachusetts. “The Sittercity team is deeply saddened about this situation,’’ the company said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family during this difficult time.’’
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"Filings describe cries, bloody scene; Nanny furnishes contrasting account" by Peter Schwormand John R. Ellement | Globe Staff, January 23, 2013
The toddler’s cries carried upstairs and did not subside. For nearly an hour, Rehma Sabir wailed. Around the time that her mother left for work, her cries grew louder still.
And mother left for work?
Hearing the noise, a neighbor rapped on the apartment door, timing her knocks with the baby’s gasps for air. But no one answered.
Finally, Rehma’s cries slowed, then stopped. The neighbor would later tell investigators that she did not hear the 1-year-old again.
Court documents made public Wednesday provide that grim account of the hours leading up to the alleged assault on the toddler, who died of head injuries two days later. Aisling McCarthy Brady, the girl’s 34-year-old nanny, had “sole custody of and contact with” the child during the time authorities believe the girl was injured, the documents assert. She is charged with assaulting the child.
A search conducted the day after Rehma died uncovered blood stains on a pillow and blanket in her crib and on discarded baby wipes. Her parents, Sameer Sabir and Nada Siddiqui, had authorized the search of their Cambridge apartment.
Investigators also found that part of the wall beside the changing table had been broken off, damage consistent with “forceful contact” from the table corner. Police were told the damage was not there before.
A specialist who diagnosed Rehma as a victim of abusive head trauma said in her opinion “there is no other explanation for Rehma’s head injuries or death,” the report stated.
Brady, an Irish native who is in the country illegally, has maintained her innocence and is devastated by the child’s death, her lawyer said. The just-released court documents also offer her account of events on the day of Rehma’s death:
According to the court document released Wednesday, Brady, told police she arrived at the Cambridge apartment around 7:50 a.m. Jan. 14. Rehma awoke at 8:15 a.m., and Brady described her to investigators as “cranky as usual.”
Brady said Rehma had napped from about 10:20 a.m. until 1 p.m., when she put her in a highchair for lunch. Brady described Rehma as a “fussy eater who sometimes held food in her mouth for up to an hour.’’ Though she also described the girl as “otherwise happy and normal” at least until her 1:30 lunch.
The child had two or three spoonfuls of potatoes and eggs, along with a bottle. Brady briefly stepped out of the room, and returned to find Rehma “slouched’’ in her chair with her eyes half-open, Brady said.
Brady told police she then put Rehma into her crib to resume napping, leaving her there until around 4:15 p.m. when she became concerned with the duration of the nap and went to wake the child.
Brady said she found Rehma in her crib, clenching her fists, her arms and legs stiff. When she picked Rehma up, “she appeared limp,’’ the report stated. Brady got a wet cloth and placed it on Rehma’s head, then called 911. Paramedics found the girl breathing but unconscious.
Investigators said they believe that the girl’s injuries must have occurred sometime after 1:30 p.m. and before 4:30 p.m., because Brady told them the girl had been alert and playing earlier in the day.
“Rehma would not have appeared ‘normal’ after the infliction of injuries,” the report says, attributing the assessment to Dr. Alice Newton. “Specifically, she would not have been able to track people with her eyes, sit on her own, play with toys, hold a bottle, drink a bottle, or eat food.”
Tests indicated that Rehma sustained massive brain swelling and found several bone fractures between two weeks and two months old.
“The head injuries, however, were acute,” the report stated.
On the day of the alleged assault, Brady was also in charge of a second child as part of a nanny share. When the 7-month-old boy was dropped off, around 12:30 p.m. Brady told the parent that Rehma was asleep in her room; the parent did not look. The second child was unharmed.
The court documents are redacted to protect the name of the witnesses, but because of the redactions, it is difficult to tell how many other people visited the apartment that day, and the identity of any visitors is unclear. Prosecutors declined to comment on the report, and Brady’s lawyer did not return phone calls Wednesday.
Prosecutors have said they expect to press homicide charges against Brady once an autopsy is complete. The chief medical examiner’s office said Wednesday it is awaiting test results to determine the cause of death. Brady is being held on $500,000 bail.
Rehma’s parents have not spoken publicly since Brady’s arrest, and could not be reached for comment. But in a statement issued by the Middlesex district attorney’s office, the child’s parents made a public appeal for privacy....
Okay.
Brady, who came to the United States in 2002, married a 38-year-old Irish native in September at St. Brendan’s Church in Dorchester, according to their marriage certificate.
Then she is here legally?
The couple hosted young adults visiting from Ireland for internships as youth and community workers, said Ronnie Millar, deputy director of the Irish International Immigrant Center.
“There’ve never been any issues with Aisling,” Millar said. “It was always a very positive experience.”
The Irish Daily Star, an Irish newspaper, reported that Brady’s father died four years ago, and her younger brother was killed in a car accident 12 years ago.
The paper said Brady’s mother, Margaret, had in recent days left Ireland for the United States.
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"Older injuries raise questions for nanny" by Patricia Wen | Globe Staff, January 24, 2013
The presence of old bone fractures in a 1-year-old Cambridge girl who died last week, allegedly at the hands of her nanny, has raised disturbing questions about how long she may have been abused and whether she exhibited past signs of physical distress that were, in retrospect, missed cries for help.
These injuries — to her left limbs and along her back and estimated to be up to two months old — are likely to give lawyers for the nanny an opening to suggest the possibility that someone else was the child’s tormenter....
Given that Rehma was 1 and had been a full-term, healthy baby, doctors said, she was probably at least crawling, if not trying to walk, which would put pressure on her back and limbs. Even if she were not wincing in pain, she probably at least exhibited signs of high stress, which can often provoke further abuse by caretakers who want peace and quiet.
“We know that infant crying and fussiness is the main trigger of shaken baby syndrome,” said Jetta Bernier, executive director of the Massachusetts Citizens for Children, a nonprofit that focuses on child-abuse prevention....
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Also see: Much to check before entrusting a child’s care
UPDATE: Autopsy results pending for toddler
