Babysitter Charged With Child Endangerment After 3-Year-Old Left Brain Dead From Beating

A toddler in Ohio suffered severe brain damage after being allegedly beaten by her babysitter, the child’s family said, according to reports Monday.

Three-year-old Hannah Wesche, of Hamilton Township, was on life support at a hospital and is reportedly brain dead.

“She is not expected to survive," her father, Jason Wesche, said Monday. “Within the next couple of days, we’ve been told that it’s going to come to an end,” he told a judge, according to Fox 19 Cincinnati.

“This little girl is hanging on by a thread. Cases like this rip your heart out. I don’t understand why or how anyone harms a child,” Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said Monday.

The accused babysitter, Linda Partin, 35, also of Hamilton Township, was arrested on felonious assault and child endangerment charges. She was being held at Butler County jail.

The charges against the babysitter would be upgraded if the child is declared dead.

The child’s father urged the judge to hold Partin without bail. Despite his plea, the judge set Partin’s bond at $30,000. The babysitter pleaded not guilty during the court appearance, posted a cash bond and was released from jail between 12 p.m. EDT and 1 p.m. EDT on Monday.

Deputies received a call after the child’s father left the girl with Partin on Thursday morning last week. Partin was accused of having struck and shook Hannah, causing "serious physical harm" Thursday at her residence in 4000 block of Shank Road in Hanover Township, sheriff's officials alleged.

"The little girl, she’s three," Partin called 911 and told an operator, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, which obtained the 13-minute-long recording of the conversation Thursday.

"I babysit kids. He just dropped her off and all of a sudden she just passed out," Partin said.

"Who's passed out?" the dispatcher asked.

"The little girl. She's 3. She fell pretty bad yesterday and she's been fine and then all of a sudden he dropped her off this morning and she walked in and kind of passed out, she went limp."

"Are you with her now?"

"Yes, Hurry she's bad. There's something wrong."

"Is she awake right now?"

"Yes," Partin added.

When the first responders arrived they found the three-year-old unresponsive, struggling to breathe and with evident bruises on her head and face, Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said Monday.

She was taken to Fort Hamilton Hospital and then air-lifted to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center where she remains in critical condition. At the hospital, detectives and hospital staff found additional bruising on the toddler’s body.

The sheriff said the babysitter admitted to striking the toddler and added Hannah had fallen and struck her head on the concrete garage floor the previous day.

"I mean it unimaginable. I can't begin to explain the feeling of losing a child at the hands of this….of just a violent act. Hannah was great... I can't," Wesche said.

The sheriff Monday urged parents to make sure they know who they hire to watch their children.

"Get background checks, talk to neighbors, friends and family members before letting anyone watch your children, know who you are leaving your babies with," the sheriff said.