Virginia NICU Nurse Receives 45-Year Sentence, Will Serve Only Three Years Under Plea Deal
Erin Strotman, 27, was sentenced to 45 years but will serve just three years after a plea deal. A state report found the hospital failed to prevent the abuse.
Virginia NICU Nurse Gets 45-Year Sentence, Will Serve Only Three Years Under Plea Deal
A Virginia nurse convicted of injuring nine premature babies in a neonatal intensive care unit will spend no more than three years behind bars, Law & Crime reports.
Erin Strotman, 27, pleaded no contest in January 2025 to nine counts of child abuse involving infants at Henrico Doctors' Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, between 2022 and 2024. She was convicted the following month. On Friday, a judge sentenced her to 45 years in prison — the statutory maximum of five years per child under Virginia law — but suspended all but four months of each individual sentence, leaving Strotman with a total active term of three years.
Her lawyers said she could be released after serving 65% of that time, based on good behaviour. The judge denied a defence request for home confinement; Strotman was taken into custody immediately after the sentencing hearing.
Fractures documented across three years
According to the hospital, three babies suffered "unexplained fractures" in November 2024, the incident that initially prompted charges. A further four infants had sustained similar injuries in the summer of 2023. Investigators ultimately determined Strotman was responsible for harm to nine children across the full period.
Strotman had been charged in January 2025 with malicious wounding and felony child abuse in connection with the November 2024 incident. Video footage allegedly showed her applying pressure to a five-month-old boy's legs until his feet reached his head.
Prosecutor cites evidence gaps for deal
Henrico County Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor told reporters she negotiated the sentence with Strotman's defence lawyers in exchange for the guilty pleas. Taylor acknowledged the outcome was difficult.
"It wasn't my choice that I wanted to actually do three years," Taylor said, explaining she was constrained by state sentencing guidelines, "as unimaginable as it is."
Taylor cited several factors that complicated a stronger prosecution: limited video evidence for some of the babies, a delay by the hospital in reporting the abuse, and hospital care guidelines in place before 2024 that did not record which nurse had treated which infant.
Defence claims accidental technique
Strotman's lawyers argued she never intended to injure the children, maintaining she had applied a gas-relief technique she learned at the hospital. At the sentencing hearing, Strotman addressed the families of the injured infants directly.
"I would like to sincerely apologise for the accidental harm that was inflicted on the babies," she reportedly said. "I never intended to hurt your children and I am so sorry."
Parent: 'I'm happy with that'
Ashli Mason, whose child was among those injured, said she was satisfied that Strotman — who had remained free since her arrest — was detained in the courtroom immediately after sentencing.
"I now know that my child's abuser is behind bars, and will be going behind bars, and I'm happy with that," Mason said.
State health agency: hospital 'failed to prevent abuse'
In April 2025, the Virginia Department of Health released an investigation finding that Henrico Doctors' Hospital "failed to prevent abuse" in connection with Strotman's treatment of the babies in its NICU. The hospital's pre-2024 protocols, which did not link specific nurses to individual patients, were cited as a contributing factor in the state's findings and in the prosecution's sentencing calculus.
Source: Law & Crime