The 29-year-old registered nurse fired from her post at Long Island's Good Samaritan Hospital after video circulated showing her appear to violently slam a baby in the intensive care unit has now been charged criminally, prosecutors say.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced that Amanda Burke, of Holbrook, had been charged with a single count of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, in the Feb. 6 caught-on-camera NICU incident.
The infant's father, Fidel Sinclair, happened to go to the hospital that day to see his 2-day-old son, Nikko, who was being kept in the NICU for observation as doctors administered antibiotics.
Through the nursery window, prosecutors say he watched Burke, who had been charged with Nikko's care, approach the child, lift him up, flip him over -- and slam him face down on the bassinet. Sinclair also recorded the incident on his phone -- and showed it to the baby's mother, Consuelo Saravia.
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"I don’t know, it just broke me," Sinclair said at the time. "I didn’t know what to do."
Saravia confronted Burke over it, officials say.
The parents also notified other Good Samaritan Hospital nursing staff of the disturbing video. Burke was ordered to leave the hospital, and fired within hours, prosecutors said. She surrendered to the Suffolk County Police Department Wednesday and was issued a desk appearance ticket for an early May arraignment, Tierney said.
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He called the allegations "truly disturbing."
Tierney's office said it had notified the state's Department of Education's Office of Professional Discipline of the investigation's findings, though at this point, Burke's license to practice as a registered nurse has not been suspended.
Burke's attorney, Robert Gottlieb, says prosecutors got it wrong.
"The Suffolk DA has grossly distorted the facts and should never have brought this case in criminal court," Gottlieb told The Post. "The infant in this case is healthy and was never injured. Amanda is an exceptional nurse who has always cared for infants under her care with love and compassion, and the evidence will prove that without any doubt."
Nikko went home after the incident and was said to be doing well.
