Inset: Erin Strotman (Henrico County Jail). Background: Henrico Doctors' Hospital (Google Maps).
The Virginia nurse convicted of injuring nine premature babies who suffered "unexplained fractures" while under her care in a hospital's intensive care unit will walk out of prison in three years or less.
Erin Strotman, 27, was accused of causing fractures to the limbs of at least nine infants at Henrico Doctors' Hospital in Richmond, Virginia. As Law&Crime previously reported, Strotman was charged in January 2025 with malicious wounding and felony child abuse in connection with an incident that occurred in November 2024, and further investigation revealed that she was responsible for harm to additional children.
According to the hospital, three babies had suffered "unexplained fractures" that November. Four other babies suffered similar injuries in the summer of 2023, the hospital said.
Videos allegedly showed Strotman applying pressure on a 5-month-old baby boy's legs to the point where his feet reached his head.
In January, Strotman pleaded no contest to nine counts of child abuse involving nine infants between 2022 and 2024 and was convicted the following month, according to court records.
According to court records reviewed by Law&Crime, she was sentenced Friday to 45 years in prison — the statutory maximum of five years per child under Virginia law. Pursuant to the plea agreement between Strotman and local prosecutors, local CBS affiliate WTVR reported, she will serve only three years total, as the judge suspended all but four months of each sentence.
Henrico County Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor told reporters that she negotiated the sentence with Strotman's defense lawyers in exchange for the pleas. She said that there would be challenges in prosecuting the case due to a lack of video evidence for some of the babies, the hospital's delay in reporting the abuse, and the Henrico hospital's care guidelines prior to 2024, which did not track which nurse provided care to which infant.
"It wasn't my choice that I wanted to actually do three years," Taylor said, but she explained that she was limited by the state's sentencing guidelines, "as unimaginable as it is."
Strotman's lawyers had reportedly argued that she never intended to harm the children, and that she was using a specific gas-relief technique she learned while at the hospital.
Local NBC affiliate WWBT reported that Strotman spoke to the families at the hearing.
"I would like to sincerely apologize for the accidental harm that was inflicted on the babies," she reportedly said, adding: "I never intended to hurt your children and I am so sorry."
Ashli Mason, one of the parents of an injured child, said she was pleased to see Strotman — who had not been in custody since her arrest — be detained immediately after the sentencing hearing.
"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.
In April 2025, the Virginia Department of Health reported that an investigation determined that the hospital "failed to prevent abuse" in connection with Strotman's care of the babies.
The judge denied Strotman's lawyers' request for home confinement, per WTVR. According to the station, her lawyers said she could potentially be released for good behavior after serving 65% of her sentence.
David Harris contributed to this report.
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