SBS: Nebraska: Kendra Fritsche pleads no contest

Nov 30, 2011

By Nina Harrelson  nharrelson@nebraska.tv

A Holdrege woman who pleaded not guilty last summer to child abuse charges stemming from an incident at her daycare has changed her plea to no contest after the charges were amended.
Kendra Fritsche, 39, entered the plea Nov. 21 in Phelps County District Court. She was originally charged with committing child abuse intentionally with injury -- a Class 2 felony -- but the charges were amended to committing child abuse intentionally with no injury -- a Class 3 felony.
Fritsche was arrested in February after a 3-month-old girl in her care was taken to the emergency room at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney on Oct. 15, 2010, with a skull fracture.
Doctors say the infant also showed signs of shaken baby syndrome.
Fritsche told authorities that she may have put the child down in a carseat "too hard."
Sentencing has not yet been scheduled. She could serve up to 5 years in prison and/or be fined up to $10,000 if convicted. Under the original charges, Fritsche was facing up to 50 years in prison.

http://www.nebraska.tv/story/16155271/update-holdrege-daycare-provider-pleads-not-guilty-to-abuse-charges

SBS: Nebraska: Day care provider Kendra Fritsche charged with child abuse

April 14, 2011  BETSY FRIEDRICH
HOLDREGE — A Holdrege day-care provider has been charged with child abuse of an infant girl.

Kendra Fritsche, 38, was arraigned Tuesday on a Class II felony in Phelps County Court.

 Judge Robert Ide issued a warrant for Fritsche’s arrest Feb. 17 and set her bond at 10 percent of $50,000, or $5,000. The bond ordered that Fritsche have no contact with children other than her own, and she can have no children in her care.

Fritsche was arrested Feb. 18 and now is free on bond.
Court records outline the case against Fritsche:
On Oct. 16, the Nebraska State Patrol was asked by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to investigate a possible child abuse case involving a 3-month-old girl who had been in her care from Sept. 7 to Oct. 15.
On Oct. 15, Fritsche contacted the girl’s mother saying she was “not acting right and need to go to the Phelps Memorial Health Center Emergency Room.”
The mother then took the girl to her doctor in Kearney, then to Good Samaritan Hospital, where the girl underwent additional tests and a CAT scan the following morning.
The CAT scan revealed the girl had suffered a skull fracture, which medical staff said was most likely not the result of a short fall but probably occurred from a significant blow to the head. A GSH ophthalmologist also examined the girl and said she had multiple retinal hemorrhaging in both eyes, which he concluded was consistent with shaken baby syndrome.
On Oct. 18, the girl was transported via medical helicopter to Omaha Children’s Hospital. That same day, a State Patrol investigator interviewed Fritsche, who said the girl’s injuries may have been caused when she put the girl down into a car seat too hard, and she may have knocked the wind out of the girl.
On Oct. 20, a Children’s Hospital doctor said the girl had suffered two separate trauma events, as determined by an MRI scan. One indicated a three-week-old bleed in the girl’s brain, and the other more current and acute bleed dated to the previous weekend when the girl suffered a left parietal skull fracture.
The doctor told police it was possible to cause the injuries by forcefully putting the child into a car seat. The doctor also said the girl’s injuries could result in learning difficulties later in life as well as temperamental mood changes over her lifetime.
Fritsche’s preliminary hearing was scheduled for 1 p.m. May 23. A Class II felony is punishable by one to 50 years in prison.
http://www.kearneyhub.com/news/local/article_539e79c8-66bf-11e0-a0ee-001cc4c03286.html