Father of abused baby says babysitter was never abused

The father of the one year old baby who was slapped and abused by her 19-year-old baby sitter is fighting back suggestions and accusations that he and his wife were abusive to the baby sitter before or after the incident.

The baby sitter Fatima Martin, was last Friday sentenced to 60 months in jail after she pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on the infant. The sentence by the court triggered protests by some women’s rights groups that argued that the sentence was too “harsh” and the young baby sitter was abused while she worked for the couple.

At a Wednesday midday press conference, the baby’s father, Attorney Joel Edmond said he and his wife never ill-treated the nanny even after she admitted to hitting the baby while in her care. The man said he and his wife who is a magistrate, treated the baby sitter as if she was family but were devastated when they saw the injuries the infant suffered at the woman’s hands.

“While my wife and I were at work, on the 11^th day of February, 2014, my wife received a text message from Fatima Martin indicating that my wife should come home and it was about Sanjana. When my wife and I called Fatima Martin she told us over the phone that Sanjana had fallen off the bed and that her eye got blood. My wife and I frantically rushed home to check on our baby girl and when we arrived home our hearts broke to see the physical condition that Sanjana was in”, the father said in a press statement.

He added that “Sanjana, my one year old daughter, couldn’t speak to tell daddy or mommy, what was wrong? She couldn’t speak to tell daddy or mommy what happened to her? She couldn’t speak to tell daddy or mommy if she was in pain? When I saw my innocent, fragile, defenseless baby that day, her left side eye was swollen with the skin around the eye discolored to shades of black, blue and purple. The left eye itself was red with blood all around.”

The Attorney said at first the baby sitter claimed that the baby had rolled off the bed and later changed that story to say that the baby had slipped from her arms while she was bathing her. He said she eventually admitted that she hit the child and that was when he called in the police and had them deal with the matter.

He also sought to dispel concerns that the baby sitter was being overworked and ill-treated during the three months that she worked for them.

According to Mr. Edmond, after placing an ad in the newspaper for a live in nanny, they hired Fatima Martin in November of last year. He said during the interview process, she was accompanied by an older sister and the sister’s young son. He said after the sister explained that the young woman had taken care of her child, they hired her for the job.

He explained that she was accommodated in her own air-conditioned, self-contained room in the couple’s home. He explained that she was paid $10,000 per week for the job and her duties only surrounded care for the young baby. He said the couple has a housekeeper who handled other duties in the house. The baby sitter, he explained would leave to go home most weekends and in some cases he and his wife would even give her a “ride” to her Grove, East Bank Demerara home.

He said he has noticed the protests against the sentencing and cannot understand how the same people who call for justice for victims of domestic violence can change their cry when a young baby is involved and is the victim.

“As far as I am concerned there is nothing a one year old baby could have done to a 19 or 20-year-old woman to warrant the gruesome beating and strangulation of a defenseless infant. My baby cannot speak to say what heinous and depraved violent acts were done to her at the hands of Fatima Martin. The physical scars that remained on her tiny body were sufficient to tell the Doctor clearly that Sanjana Edmond was beaten repeatedly and strangled.” Edmond said.

He said he is not too worried about the moves by the young woman and her attorneys to appeal the Magistrate’s decision since that is an issue for the courts and he believes justice will prevail in the matter. He said he would welcome any investigation of his family and the way the babysitter was treated while she worked for them.

The Attorney pointed out that right now his concern remains with his daughter who has to go to the doctor for daily visits since the incident. He explained that she appears to be now having sleep problems and would cry out of her sleep often. He said the doctors will continue to pay attention to his daughter’s health.