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MARION COUNTY, Fla. - A Florida babysitter has been arrested under suspicion of child abuse after an infant that she was looking after had several bruises on her face, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
Viviana Harumi Ortiz-Lopez, 30, was arrested and booked into jail on one count of felony child abuse.
What we know:
On March 10, investigators with the Marion County Sheriff's Office spoke with the child's parents, who said they picked their child up from the babysitter and noticed the bruises on the left side of her face and on the nose.
When they asked Ortiz-Lopez about the bruises, she claimed they were self-inflicted – caused by the child scratching her face with a blanket – and requested the parents bring mittens to prevent this, the parents told deputies.
The parents said "everything appeared normal" until they received a call from Ortiz-Lopez saying their child wouldn't stop crying, and they needed to pick her up, according to deputies. When the parents picked their child up, bruises were on the baby's face.
A photo sent to deputies showed four distinct red lines, which would be consistent with a slap mark, an arrest affidavit said.
After an evaluation at Kimberly's Center for Child Protection, a medical professional determined the child's injuries could not have been self-inflicted – rather that bruises appeared consistent with an adult's hand, deputies said. The child also had red marks under their armpits, the medical professional told deputies.
Source: Marion County Sheriff's office
When deputies spoke with Ortiz-Lopez, she provided several contradictory statements, the sheriff's office said. She told deputies she also regularly babysits for other families in the area, the sheriff's office said. The parents told deputies Ortiz-Lopez had been recommended by a mutual friend, who had previously taken their child out of Ortiz-Lopez's care because "she knew the defendant did this," the arrest affidavit said.
What's next:
Ortiz-Lopez was transported to the Marion County Jail, where she's being held without bond.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from the Marion County Sheriff's office.