Last week, Christopher Kaphaem, 43, a former nurse, “was charged with 19 felony counts of child abuse after he allegedly hurt at least nine infants,” in the intensive care unit of a Wisconsin hospital. Five children were found to have suffered serious injuries that included bruising, broken ribs, broken legs, and a fractured skull. 1
After employees found two children with injuries, an investigation at UnityPoint Health-Meriter Hospital began in February. Initially, staff were worried that the hospital equipment might have caused the bruising. However, it soon became apparent that Kaphaem was to blame.
“Police believe Kaphaem, who worked the night shift and often closed the door to the intensive care unit, according to coworkers, abused children for nearly a year – from March 2017 to February of 2018.
Nurses told investigators that Kaphaem would often ignore alarms and once said that he preferred working at that unit because “he would not have to deal with patients talking back to him,” according to a criminal complaint.”2
Kaphaem’s nursing license has been suspended and he is facing a maximum of six years on the 18 of the counts of abuse while the charge of intentional child abuse causing great bodily harm, carries a possible 25-year maximum prison term.
