Appropriate sentence for two nannies who abused a 17-month-old boy and caused his death

On the morning of August 25, the Hanoi People's Court sentenced two nannies, Nguyen Thi An, to life in prison and Nguyen Thi Lanh (both in Hanoi) to 20 years in prison for murder.

The two defendants were nannies who beat and tortured a 17-month-old boy named PTĐ. (in Van Diem commune, Thuong Tin district, Hanoi) to death in February 2023.

At the trial, defendant An admitted to stomping on D.'s stomach and head and hitting her ear with his hand. When the baby continued to cry, An let her sit up by herself and the defendant went somewhere else.

“At that time, the defendant was angry that the baby was crying so he hit the baby to make him stop crying. The defendant did not do it on purpose.”An testified before the jury and turned to the child's family to apologize.

“Although I know it is late, I still want to send my deepest and most sincere apologies to the victim's family, hoping that the child's family will try to overcome the pain and continue living.”An said.

Defendant Lanh admitted to the crime as charged in the indictment.. “Defendants who take care of children must treat them like their own children, take care of them and comfort them when they cry. What do you think of this action?”The jury asked questions. At this point, both defendants bowed their heads and admitted their guilt.

During the trial, the victim's mother sobbed as the defendants confessed to each act of abuse against her child. The mother said that because she trusted an acquaintance, she sent her child to the nursery in early February 2023. Every day, D. was very well-behaved at home.

“At noon on February 16, when I received a phone call from the teacher saying that my child was sick, I was so scared that I ran into the classroom and saw my child lying on the foam floor, cold, stiff limbs, closed eyes, wet clothes, so I shouted for help to carry my child to Van Diem Commune Health Station for first aid. After that, my child was transferred to Nong Nghiep General Hospital I, then to the National Children's Hospital, but he did not survive.”, D's mother burst into tears and said.

Mr. T. (defendant An's husband) said that his family had compensated the victim 215 million VND. Defendant Lanh's family also compensated 225 million VND.

The representative of the Procuracy stated that the defendants' actions were extremely serious, infringing on the victim's right to life and causing panic among the people. The child D. had just started school and was crying. If they were moral and professional people, they would have taken measures to comfort the child, but the defendants did not use love to comfort the child but used their hands and feet to hit, beat, and stomp on the child.

The defendant's actions have aggravating circumstances such as killing a person under 16 years old and being hooligan. The defendants are normal people, capable of realizing their actions.

The trial panel determined that the actions of the defendants Nguyen Thi An and Nguyen Thi Lanh were particularly serious, infringing on the victims’ right to life. The defendants opened an illegal childcare facility, and despite being suspended by the government, they continued to care for children.

When the child D. cried, the defendants did not comfort him but beat him, resulting in his death. The defendants had some mitigating circumstances such as honestly confessing, raising a child under 36 months old, and voluntarily compensating the victim’s family about 500 million VND. However, there must be a severe punishment, isolating the defendants from society for a long time to be enough of a deterrent.

According to the indictment, the defendants An and Lanh did not have any professional qualifications in education, but around November 2022, they opened a class to take care of children for money.

The two rented a house in Van Diem village (Van Diem commune, Thuong Tin district, Hanoi) as a place to take care of children. In mid-February 2023, due to being busy with work, Ms. Phung Thi T. (born in 1981, in Van Diem commune, Thuong Tin district, Hanoi) sent her son, Pham Tien D. (born on September 11, 2021) to An and Lanh's childcare facility.

At around 7:30 a.m. on February 23, Ms. T. brought her child to the daycare. An picked up D. and took her to class. At around 9:30 a.m. that same day, the class had a total of 7 children, all of whom were taken to the bedroom by An and Lanh for supervision.

At this time, D. ran outside, stood at the door and cried. Angry, Lanh ran out, picked up the baby, brought him into the bedroom, then threw him onto the foam mattress on the floor, causing D.'s head to hit the foam mattress.

The baby continued to cry, so Lanh slapped D. twice in the face and yelled at him not to cry. The defendant left D. lying there and went to sit on the chair.

At that time, seeing that D. was still crying, An went to where the child was lying on the mattress and kicked the child's stomach and chest. After being kicked, D. turned to lie on her right side, but An continued to use her right foot to stomp and kick the child's left ear 1-2 times. After that, An and Lanh let D. stop crying and play with her friends.

At around 4:30 p.m. the same day, Ms. T. came to pick up her child and saw that both of D.'s ears were bruised. When the mother asked the reason, Lanh said that D. was playing and fell into the basket of toys.

Because she believed Lanh's words, Ms. T. took her child home. That night, D. vomited. On February 24 and 25, Ms. T. and her husband continued to take their child to An and Lanh's care facility.

Due to personal matters, Lanh took time off from looking after the children on the 24th, 25th and 26th of February. On the morning of 26th of February, Ms. Tuyen took D. to class as usual and left her child with An. At around 9:30 a.m. the same day, An saw D. crying and became angry, so she used both hands to pick up the child, threw him on the floor and used her right foot to kick D. in the stomach.

When he turned around, An saw D. unconscious, vomiting, and scratching his face, so he called Lanh to inform her of the child's condition.

When receiving An's call, Lanh instructed her colleague to get water for D. to drink. When the child did not drink, An poured a glass of water on the child's face and slapped the child's face to wake him up. Because the child did not wake up, An called Ms. T. to come to class.

The mother arrived and saw her child was cold, with stiff limbs, closed eyes, and wet clothes, so she and An took D. to a medical facility.

At 4:15 p.m. on March 2, D. died at home. The forensic examination concluded that the cause of D.'s death was irreversible respiratory failure due to severe traumatic brain injury.