Video captures abuse of 15-month-old; Fishers in-home child care provider arrested
UPDATE
Shannon Gillen was formally charged Feb. 5 with battery resulting in bodily injury for a person under 14, neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury, strangulation, battery on a person less than 14, and neglect of a dependent.PREVIOUS
FISHERS, Ind. (WISH) — Fishers police arrested a woman from Indianapolis on accusations of abusing a 15-month old girl that she babysat.
Many families have to make that decision: who to trust with their children when they’re gone.
The charges against 27-year-old Shannon Gillen are chilling. She has been charged with two counts for battery, two for neglect and one for strangulation.
“You never really know who you’re letting into your house until something like that happens sometimes,” said Danny Oldham, who lives down the street from this home.
A hair-raising nine pages outline the charges against Gillen.
“I’ve been here 28 years, and we’ve never had any problems whatsoever,” said Hikmet Kutlu, the Geist Woods Neighborhood Association president.
The family, described as a young, well-to-do family by neighbors, noticed bruising on the child. The home’s security cameras captured what prompted this family to call Fishers police.
The Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office said the video showed that “the accused grabs (the child’s) Head with both hands and shakes (the child’s) Head while digging her nails into it.”
“This person not only needs criminal charges but treatment,” Kutlu said.
Gillen “smacks her… with a plastic toy frying pan,” court documents said.
At another point, the charges indicate Gillen swore at and threatened the 15-month-old.
The prosecutor’s office said Gillen would try to stop the child from crying by placing “both of her hands over (the child’s) mouth and nose area for approximately three seconds.”
The prosecutor’s office said the video indicated the child seemed unable “to breathe properly during this time.”
All of this captured on camera, allegedly happening over just a couple days in mid-January. That’s just a fraction of Gillen’s half-year with this Fishers family.
Gillen will have her initial hearing on Monday in Hamilton Superior Court 3. She was being held Friday at the Hamilton County jail in Noblesville.
