Chantal Mason (News 12 Westchester screenshot and Newburgh County Sheriff’s Office)
A babysitter in New York was arrested this week after nanny camera footage allegedly showed her viciously assaulting a 2-year-old little girl while both of the child’s parents were out of the house at work. Chantal Mason was taken into custody this week and charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child, law enforcement authorities confirmed to Law&Crime.
A copy of the footage from the nanny camera was obtained by News 12 Westchester and reportedly shows the toddler lying on her back on a couch in the family’s Newburgh home while Mason is sitting next to the child. At some point in the footage, Mason allegedly begins yelling at the toddler while simultaneously slapping the little girl’s body more than 25 times.
“Be quiet,” Mason can reportedly be heard saying on the video. “Lay your a– down and go to sleep.”
The station said that it was able to obtain the full footage of Mason allegedly assaulting the child for an entire minute from “a source close to the investigation” into Mason. However, due to the nature of the footage, the station deemed it to be “too graphic and upsetting to show.”
Instead, News 12 reporter Blaise Gomez posted a brief nine-second clip of the alleged assault and a summary of the incident.
In the clip, the child is lying on her back on the couch while the woman alleged to be Mason can be heard saying, “Why don’t you listen — lay down” as she violently flips the toddler over, causing the baby to land hard on her stomach. The child can be heard crying as her head bobs up and down from the force of being pushed down.
The station provided a few additional details as to what took place in the portion of the footage deemed too graphic to post.
According to the report, as Mason was striking the child in excess of a dozen times, the toddler could be heard crying increasingly louder. Mason then “flips the child over beneath a baby blanket to push the child’s body into a couch during the attack.” The assault reportedly ceased when the toddler could no longer be heard crying or seen moving.
Additionally, the station reported that the victim’s parents had been friends with Mason for about 15 years prior to the assault on their child.
Mason was booked at the Orange County Jail and released after appearing before a judge on Tuesday.
The victim was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital for treatment and is “OK,” per News 12.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
