East Lyme woman arrested after alleged reports of child abuse
Jun. 7—EAST LYME — Police on Tuesday morning arrested an East Lyme woman who they say admitted to shaking her young child and smothering him with a pillow, behavior she attributed to a mental health disorder.
Police have charged Katie Nichols, 36, of 339 Flanders Road, Apt. 210, with risk of injury to a minor, second-degree reckless endangerment and negligent cruelty to persons, following an investigation from the Department of Children and Families and the East Lyme Police Department.
Police Chief Michael Finkelstein said police are continuing to investigate and there may be further arrests.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit from East Lyme Detective Jean Babcock, DCF on Feb. 16 received a referral from Nichols' therapist, regarding Nichols' then 16-month-old son. The child's father also lives with them.
The therapist said Nichols told her she had slapped her son on the belly "and also shakes, strangles and smothers him," the affidavit said. Nichols told the therapist she didn't intend to kill her son.
Therapists are mandated reporters under state law, meaning they are required to report known or suspected incidents of child abuse. This is one exception to the standard of patient confidentiality, along with when clients are in danger of harming themselves or others.
The affidavit said DCF investigator Bradley Walsh conducted an announced visit to Nichols' home on Feb. 17, and that Nichols told the investigator she has a history of hitting and violently shaking her son, and smothering him with a pillow. She acknowledged the abuse had occurred more than once.
According to the affidavit, the child's father told the DCF investigator he was aware of the incidents described but didn't have the courage to say anything. The affidavit said the father later said he made numerous reports of his concerns to police and the DCF Careline, but no reports indicating physical abuse were found with either.
This visit wasn't the first time Walsh spoke with Nichols. There were four police calls involving verbal disputes between Nichols and the father from Oct. 6 to Jan. 19, the last of which resulted in both the arrest of the father and a police officer contacting the DCF Careline with concerns about the well-being of the child.
In a virtual visit with Walsh on Jan. 21, the affidavit said, Nichols minimized concerns of domestic violence and said she has struggled with mental health.
Babcock received the report from DCF on March 7. A week later, she met with Walsh, who said the child had been removed from his parents' custody. Babcock and another officer interviewed Nichols the following day, and Nichols told police that at a recent visit to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, she was told she has Intermittent Explosive Disorder.
She talked to police about the hitting and smothering, and said she had put her hands around her son's throat about six to 10 times but he never lost consciousness, the arrest affidavit said.
Nichols also said when she was 6 or 7 years old, she put a cat in the clothes dryer and turned it on, and put another cat in a filing cabinet and closed the door, according to the affidavit.
She concluded the interview by telling police about the possibility of hurting her son again, "I'm not going to sit here and say it will never happen again. I know it could happen."
The child was taken to the emergency department at L+M for evaluation but medical records showed no signs of trauma, the affidavit stated.
