Nurse Was Hired to Care for Medically Fragile 3-Year-Old — But Camera Footage Tells a Different Story

A woman who was hired to take care of a 3-year-old child with medical issues has been arrested and charged after she was caught abusing and striking the child on the home surveillance camera. The incident took place in Pennsylvania. The woman is charged with criminal abuse.

A 58-year-old woman in Pennsylvania, identified as Cindy Desser, has been arrested and charged with criminal child abuse. A family hired Desser as their night nurse for their 3-year-old daughter with a medical issue. However, Desser was allegedly captured on a home surveillance camera smacking the child and pulling on her tracheostomy tube, which is used to provide a direct airway into the trachea.

According to a criminal complaint obtained by WPVI, a 58-year-old woman from Bucks County was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of children following an investigation by the Bensalem Township Police Department.

The family said they hired Desser through Dynamic Home Health Care to watch their daughter during the night. The child was born prematurely with life-threatening medical conditions that affected her heart and lungs.

While talking to WPVI, the family said they believed Desser would be an ideal caregiver for their daughter, given her background.

“Twenty years of experience in home care, taking care of a kid with the same lung disease as hers. She likes nights,” the child’s mother said.

“You don’t find that. It was almost too good to be true,” she added.

In October 2025, Desser showed a video to the family of herself, allegedly assaulting another child.

According to WPVI, the parents weren’t sure if Desser showed them the footage, but it prompted them to check their own surveillance footage, which led to the discovery of Desser allegedly assaulting their daughter. At one point, Desser was also allegedly sleeping when she was supposed to be caring for the child, the family added.

Another video showed their daughter pulling out her tracheostomy tube, and Desser was slow to replace it. The child was struggling to breathe, and Desser was heard saying, “You’re the one who did it, I don’t want to hear it.”

The girl’s mother also said she noticed bruises while changing her daughter’s diaper. A doctor from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia told the mother that the marks could have been caused by a thumbprint. After reviewing their own security camera footage, the girl’s parents learned that Desser was already under investigation for another alleged assault of a child.

Desser was arrested on March 25 and charged with endangering the welfare of children. She is currently in custody at the Bucks County Jail after failing to post her $2 million bail. Her hearing is scheduled for April 7.