I don't understand why anyone would trust an illegal alien to care for their children.....

http://insidebayarea.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3650189


Nanny admits shaking infant
Judge raises bail, refuses request for release
By Malaika Fraley, STAFF WRITERInside Bay Area
The nanny accused of injuring a 3-month-old Redwood Shores boy admitted to police that she shook the infant and may have struck him in the head with a telephone, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Minerva Rojas, 28, sat in shackles with her head hung low during a hearing in which Judge Marc Forcum raised her bail from $200,000 to $1 million. Her attorney, Randy Moore, had requested the bail hearing in hopes of lowering the bail and possibly getting Rojas released on her own recognizance. She has pleaded not guilty to two counts of child abuse and one count of assault.
"It's (child abuse) one of the most serious types of offenses that we see, short of homicide," Judge Forcum said. "I don't want to see her potentially putting other children at risk."
Rojas, a Mexican national who lives with her parents in East Palo Alto, was arrested March 16 when paramedics responding to a neighbor's 9-1-1 call found the baby unconscious.
The infant was hospitalized at UCSF Medical Center for several days, where an expert concluded that his injuries were consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome. Prosecutor Morris Maya said the baby was kept in an incubator for hemorrhaging that caused pressure on his brain. He also suffered retinal hemorrhaging in addition to the two skull fractures.
Prosecutors said Tuesday the child has been released from the hospital, but the long-term prognosis for his condition, which could include brain damage, is still uncertain.
Rojas originally told police that the baby fell off a couch while she was out of the room. Moore said Rojas' alleged omission that she shook and possibly struck the child was one of several statements she made during a police interrogation that stretched on for up to four hours.
The parents of the child sat in the back of the courtroom during Rojas' bail hearing, dressed in suits and clutching each other's hands tightly. The mother, who appears to be in her late 20s, was holding tissue.
Rojas' parents entered the hearing late and sat down on the opposite side, in view of their daughter.
In his fight to get Rojas released from jail, Moore submitted letters from numerous individuals who wrote the court on Rojas' behalf, including parents who said they would still hire her to watch their children despite the criminal charges against her. Rojas has no history of violence, Moore said, and had a fine reputation in the child-care field before her arrest.
Maya argued that Rojas is a flight risk because of her familial ties in Mexico. She has a Mexican ID card issued Jan. 9, 2003, and may flee to the country to avoid the 12-year prison sentence she is facing in this case, Maya said. He added that Rojas is on probation for misdemeanor petty theft in Santa Clara County.
San Mateo County has identified three deaths from Shaken Baby Syndrome from 2002 to 2004, said Anand Chabra, the county's director of maternal, child and adolescent health. "The numbers are small, but the outcome is tragic," Chabra told San Mateo County supervisors Tuesday morning, just before they designated April as Child Abuse Awareness Month. "We know this is just the tip of the iceberg. This is a serious problem."
To help educate would-be parents on how to deal with crying children, the San Mateo County Child Abuse Prevention Council will talk to four classes of teenagers April 6 at Redwood High School.
Rojas returns to court Monday, when a preliminary hearing will decide if there's enough evidence to bring her to trial.
Learn more about Shaken Baby Syndrome at http://www.dontshake.com.
Staff writer Laura Ernde contributed to this report.
Contact staff writer Malaika Fraley at (650) 306-2425 or by e-mail at mfraley@sanmateocountytimes.com.