A Wisconsin day care worker has been arrested and charged with child abuse after police say surveillance footage showed her violently handling a 3-month-old infant, leaving the child with a broken arm. Ashley Karschnick, 32, was charged in Fond du Lac County Court with one felony count of child abuse—recklessly causing harm. The incident occurred at Lily Pad Day Care in Fond du Lac, where Karschnick was working at the time.
According to a criminal complaint, Fond du Lac police were called to Children’s Wisconsin Hospital in Milwaukee on October 13 after medical staff reported treating a baby with a fractured arm. Doctors determined that the injury was consistent with child abuse and likely occurred at the daycare, according to local ABC affiliate WBAY.
Detectives reviewed security footage from the infant room that day and observed Karschnick appearing to grow “more and more frustrated” as the hours went on. The video allegedly showed her picking up the baby by the torso, carrying her to a crib, and slamming her down with enough force to make the crib move. Investigators reported hearing a loud “thump” followed by the baby’s screams.
Roughly eight minutes later, the footage showed Karschnick returning to the crib to swaddle the crying infant. When the child continued screaming, Karschnick removed her from the crib, still wrapped in the swaddle, and placed her on the floor. From that moment in the video, police said the baby’s left arm appeared limp and was not being used normally.
Medical reports from Children’s Wisconsin confirmed that the infant sustained a “minimally displaced spiral fracture of the mid left humeral diaphysis,” an injury the attending doctor concluded was “consistent with child physical abuse.”
Police interviewed Karschnick on October 16. She denied slamming the baby into the crib, claiming instead that the crib moved because she accidentally bumped it with her hip. When asked about the baby’s screams, Karschnick reportedly told officers, “I feel like it was the same cry she was giving me,” and “I feel like every time I touched her she was crying.”
Investigators noted inconsistencies in her statements. Karschnick initially admitted to attempting to swaddle the baby after the incident, but later denied doing so during the same interview. Karschnick appeared in court this week for a bond hearing and is scheduled to return on October 28.
Authorities have not released information about her employment status with Lily Pad Day Care. The condition of the infant, whose identity has not been made public, has not been disclosed, but medical staff said the child’s injury was serious and required treatment.