March 25 (UPI) — Child endangerment charges filed last year against a nurse accused of mishandling a newborn infant at a Long Island, N.Y., hospital were dropped Monday, her lawyer announced.
Charges against nurse Amanda Burke, filed in connection with an incident filmed by the infant’s parents at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, N.Y., have been withdrawn by Suffolk County, N.Y., prosecutors, defense attorney Robert Gottlieb told reporters.
“This has been a disgraceful prosecution,” he said, noting that the state Office of Professional Discipline had viewed footage shot by the parents of newborn in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit and determined there was “no basis” to take any action against Burke, who was fired shortly after the February 2023 incident.
Prosecutors slapped Burke with charges of endangering the welfare of a child, a Class A misdemeanor, in April after Fidel Sinclair filmed Burke lifting up his son, 2-day-old Nikko, by his diaper and “violently slamming him face down on the bassinet.”
Burke’s legal team, however, contended the boy did not suffer any injuries and remained healthy throughout.
“Unfortunately, despite the disturbing video which captured in the incident in this case, the New York State Department of Licensing found the defendant did not act with gross negligence,” the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement issued to media outlets. “As such, we could not prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.”
Burke said she has suffered since prosecutors brought the charges.
“I’m just happy it’s over. It was a nightmare,” she said at a press conference. “I was harassed. People at my door, e-mails. I have an 8-year-old. I felt like she was in danger. It was a nightmare.”