A Brooklyn night-shift nurse who was caught on camera hitting and shaking a premature baby inside a Westchester County home last year was sentenced Monday to 30 days in jail, prosecutors said.
Gwendolyn Blake was also given three years’ probation for beating a five-week-old boy, effectively barring her from most nursing jobs during that time. The victim’s parents accused Blake of being “violent” and posing a “serious danger” to other families.
According to the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, Blake, 40, was supposed to be caring for a family’s newborn baby in the Town of Mamaroneck on Aug. 30, 2023, when he struck the crying baby.
“This premature baby was colicky due to his low birth weight and instead of being treated with love and compassion,
He was abused because he was in pain.”Parents of a newborn
Prosecutors say the sickening abuse continued the next day, with the cruel nurse repeatedly slapping the child in the face and shook him by his head.
Both sordid incidents were captured on surveillance cameras.
Blake was arrested on Sept. 5, 2023, and later pleaded guilty in May to two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
“This premature baby was colicky due to his low birth weight and instead of being treated with love and compassion he was abused because of his pain… This has been a nightmare for our boys, our family and our community,” the baby’s family said in a victim impact statement.
“We can never trust our children to just anyone and we become overly suspicious of anyone our children interact with.”
Prosecutors had sought a 60-day jail sentence for the defendant, but Mamaroneck County Judge Ronald Meister only imposed a 30-day sentence, the district attorney’s office said.
“She is violent and poses a grave danger to innocent families.”
Parents of a newborn
As part of his probation, Blake is not allowed to care for elderly, youth or other vulnerable people, according to prosecutors.
A permanent protective order was also issued in the case, keeping Blake away from the victim and her family.
“Gwen Blake knew what she was doing behind closed doors, lied to our faces and went to work every day without a care in the world,” the family said.
“She is violent and poses a grave danger to innocent families.”
Westchester District Attorney Mimi Roca slammed Blake for violating his professional and moral responsibilities.
“We hope that today’s sentence will prevent the defendant from harming other children in the future,” Roca said in a statement.
The district attorney’s office said anyone with information about other potential victims can call the office’s Child Abuse Bureau at (914)-995-3000.
