FL Babysitter Given 8 Years ~ Abuse Caught On Nannycam

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NANNYCAM VIDEO LANDS SITTER IN JAIL

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sourced by LCoastMom

A babysitter from Jacksonville, FL has been sentenced to state prison after pleading guilty to 3 out of 4 counts of felony child abuse. 53 year old, Jeannine Marie Campbell, was facing 20 years, when she accepted a plea bargain, last month.  Duval County, circuit court Judge Adrian Soud sentenced Campbell to eight years - for three separate counts, with seven years probation. She was credited 163 days, after spending six months in county jail awaiting trial. Soud also instilled special conditions - Campbell is never again allowed to care for any children or even be left alone with a child.  

 Jeannine Campbell had been babysitting for the Hammock family, for two and a half years. They installed a Nanny-Cam after the older of their two young children developed a black- eye, that Campbell "couldn't explain".  Two weeks later they terminated the sitter, saying they were not happy with the quality of care she provided. The parents notified law enforcement after viewing the video later that evening, March 16th. Campbell was seen slapping, kicking and shaking an 11 month old baby boy, she also smacked him - knocking him over. 

Police reviewed the video and saw the infant picked up and slung into a playpen, hit in the head with a ball, slapped, hit with a towel and swatted 11 times, according to the arrest report. "Throughout the video, Ms. Campbell's demeanor appeared very angry, and it was obvious that she was abusing the child and not playing with him," one officer wrote in the report. 

Campbell was arrested on March 17 and charged with battery on a child. She remained in custody, with a $75,000 bail. According to an arrest report Campbell told investigators she knows it looks bad; she admitted that she slapped, slammed, kicked and hit the infant - because she was angry with his parents and took it out on their child, the report said.  Campbell told investigators she had a headache, but understood that there were no excuses for what she did. She claimed that while she had spanked the children before, that was the only instance of abuse. Campbell also said that she knew about the video.

Campbell's attorney Malcolm Anthony said his client was under stress due to her husbands job loss, she was going through menopause and may have been had a hormone imbalance.  He also claims she has been treated for depression in jail, since her arrest in March.

During the sentencing hearing, Campbell apologized and said she "couldn't explain her actions" she said; even claimed she didn't remember the abuse. But a much clearer picture is told by phone call records released by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department; calls to her mother and husband, when Campbell told them; "'Cause I think they kept asking me what happened the day, you know, and I was like, 'There's part of my problem, you know? It wasn't me. I don't remember, (that) kind of thing,'" Campbell said. "But I'm not going to say anymore."

When talking to her mother, she reminded Campbell of how a previous employer described her when working with children. "She said that she could remember when she was director, that you just get so frustrated."

Campbell told her mother that the children she babysat were spoiled and lacked discipline. "Were the kids really spoiled?" her mother asked. Campbell replied, "Sort of. I mean, either one of them as babies would cry. They were picked up immediately, picked up kind of thing, you know, and it was, 'Oh, you poor little thing. And you know, it was like, 'Yes, but now your child's whining about the fact that you can't wash dishes. Now you're holding the child while you're washing dishes, you know, or something like that.' To me, I just can't. We're talking 10-15 minutes at the most, you know? It's not going to hurt the kid to cry."

Campbell also said the parents prosecuting her were overreacting to what they saw on video.

Amanda Hammock, mother of the 11 month old infant, had no sympathy for Campbell; a woman who she thought was her friend, saying it was only by the grace of God that her baby only had a split lip and a bruise. Hammock also lashed out at the defense attorneys for claiming Campbell showed restraint when she 'threw soft items at her son rather than other items that were available in the home.'