Warning: This article includes descriptions of severe injuries to infants and could be disturbing for some readers
A Pennsylvania day care worker accused of injuring two baby girls who were in her care appeared in court on Wednesday.
During a preliminary hearing on Sept. 10, Catalina Baldwin, 37, of Phoenixville, faced a judge as well as some of the parents of the children she cared for. She remained silent as she left the courtroom and went back to the county jail where she had been held since her arrest in July.
Baldwin later posted her $99,000 bond with help from a bondsman.
The investigation began on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, when Upper Providence Police and medics responded to a report of an unresponsive 7-month-old girl at the Oaks Learning Center on Egypt Road in Oaks, Pennsylvania. When police arrived, they found two Upper Providence Township firefighters who had been at the day care for an event. The firefighters were rendering aid to the baby who appeared to be having seizures, investigators said.
The baby was taken to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s King of Prussia location. Investigators said she was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma, a condition where blood collects between the brain and its outer protective covering due to ruptured blood vessels. The girl’s brain was also shifted past its center line while part of her temporal lobe was shifted downward, according to officials.
The baby also had several retinal hemorrhages in both of her eyes and injuries to the ligaments in her cervical spine. Investigators said those injuries were consistent with non-accidental trauma.
The baby was flown by helicopter to CHOP in Philadelphia where she underwent emergency surgery. Officials said part of the baby’s skull had to be removed during treatment and she remains hospitalized.
Both Upper Providence Police and Montgomery County detectives began to investigate after determining the baby was assaulted. Investigators learned the girl suffered her injuries on July 9, her third day at Oaks Early Learning Center. The baby had been dropped off by both of her parents that morning at 7:30 a.m. The parents said their baby girl was healthy, alert and interactive when they dropped her off. The girl was one of three babies in the infant room who were under the sole care of Catalina Baldwin, an employee at the day care, officials said.
At 10:12 a.m. that morning, Baldwin texted the day care’s director and asked her to respond to the infant room, according to investigators. The director arrived and noticed the baby was lethargic and unable to hold up her head, investigators said. The director then ran to get help from the firefighters who were at the day care for an event and called 911.
Detectives also downloaded Baldwin’s cellphone and determined she had texted another teacher at 10:04 a.m. that morning that the baby was “a nightmare,” investigators said. Investigators also found that Baldwin had googled “Shaken Syndrome,” on July 11, two days after the baby was hospitalized.
Around the same time, Upper Providence Police were also investigating a report of another baby, a 5-month-old girl, who was injured while in the infant room at the Oaks Early Learning Center. Investigators said Baldwin sent that baby’s mother a message on May 29, 2025, stating the girl had unexplained bleeding in her mouth. Baldwin claimed in the message that the baby had caused the injury herself by putting a broken wicker basket in her mouth, investigators said. However, the CHOP Child Protection Team determined that the baby’s injury was “highly concerning for non-accident trauma/child physical abuse.” Investigators also said the 5-month-old girl was in the sole care of Baldwin at the time of her injury.
Investigators later determined that Baldwin had physically assaulted the 5-month-old baby as well.
Baldwin was arrested on Wednesday, July 31, 2025, and charged with two counts of aggravated assault, simple assault, endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering another person. All charges were held against her during her court appearance on Sept. 10.
Baldwin’s next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 22, 2025. NBC10 reached out to Baldwin’s lawyer who had no comment.
In a civil lawsuit filed on Wednesday, lawyers said other parents wrote complaints about the Oaks Learning Center, alleging there were other cases of abuse at the day care.
“We are always continuing to investigate on every case,” prosecutor Lauren Marvel said. “The investigation never ends. If there are individuals who have information about this case, who have experienced something that is concerning to them, any information at all, we always welcome that because we will never stop investigating the case.”
A spokesperson for the Oaks Learning Center declined to comment on Wednesday but said they would wait and see how everything played out in the courts.
After Baldwin’s arrest in July, an Oaks Learning Center spokesperson shared a statement that they had sent to families.
We want to inform you that one of our employees has recently been arrested by the Upper Providence Police Department. This employee worked in our infant room.
The employee in question has worked in the childcare industry for 12 years, and has had a spotless record for 11 of those years, prior to these allegations. The employee will not be working while these charges are pending.
We are conducting an investigation. We want to arrive at and embrace the truth.
We are a STAR 4 center, which is the best of the best in Pennsylvania due to our rigorous safety protocols and procedures. We take great pride in that. Our staff is well trained and we remain in compliance with the protocols of the Department of Human Services.
To ensure the safety of the children in our care, we are installing video cameras in all of the rooms. This is of the utmost importance to us: the love and care of the children and staff that work at Oaks Early Learning Center.
The child and the family are in our prayers.
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