WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT Teresa Louise Biswanath used straps to bind the child’s arms and put a pacifier with a six-inch stuffed animal attached into his mouth
A woman has been jailed after an 11-month-old baby in her unlicensed day nursery died.
The tragic incident happened on August 30, 2022, when the baby boy, who has not been named, was under the care of Teresa Louise Biswanath, who was running an unlicensed in-home nursery. The defendant previously worked at a well-known childcare center where she underwent extensive training, including safe sleeping techniques for infants.
Prosecutors stated that the boy was under her supervision when she “squeezed [him] into a swaddle much too small for his size” which was “designed for newborns less than three months old who could not roll over or crawl as he could.
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“On the day of the child’s death, the defendant was caring for five children, including the victim. During nap time, the defendant squeezed the victim into a swaddle much too small for his size, one designed for newborns less than three months old who could not roll over or crawl as he could. She used straps to bind the child’s arms and put a pacifier with a 6-inch stuffed animal attached into his mouth,” prosecutors revealed after her conviction.
“The defendant initially tried to get the child to sleep in the same room with the other children, but eventually took him to a bedroom on the second floor of the home. She placed him facedown on the bed with his arms restrained by the swaddle and the pacifier in his mouth. The victim was upstairs for at least one hour as the defendant was in and out of the bedroom.
“The defendant left to check on the other children and when she returned to the upstairs room, she found the victim blue and unresponsive. She attempted to perform CPR while her husband called an ambulance. First responders were unable to revive the child.”
Biswanath claimed that she had previously worked at a “well-known childcare center” where she received “extensive training, including safe sleeping techniques for infants,” according to a press release from the Washington County District Attorney’s Office shared on Tuesday. The Washington County District Attorney’s Office expressed its deepest condolences to the victim’s family and loved ones.
Biswanath, from Oregon, has been found guilty of criminally negligent homicide. The 46- year-old woman from Oregon has been handed a two-year prison sentence following the infant’s death.
On May 9, 2025, Judge Erik Buchér sentenced the defendant to two years in prison. The veteran day care worker has now been permanently barred from running her own child care centre and will also be subject to three years of supervision after her prison term. Biswanath is also under orders to avoid any contact with the family of the victim.