In the news...

Tuesday, February 23, 2010
A baby boy died in the care of a babysitter in a hotel room Tuesday, and the woman faces charges though no foul play is suspected, Riverdale Police Chief Samuel Patterson told the AJC.
The 6-month-old's lungs were filled with fluid and his body was stiff by the time the caretaker drove him to Southern Regional Medical Center, the police chief said. The babysitter advertised her services on the popular classified advertising Web site Craigslist, Patterson said. He said police had reason to believe the mother did as well and that he's unsure which party responded to which ad but that investigators were "satisfied that they hooked up on Craigslist." (Never, never leave your children with anyone you don't know. It isn't just easier said then done!)

A 44-year-old woman pleaded guilty Monday to stealing a $60,000 pair of earrings from the Atherton family she worked for as a housekeeper and taking $4,000 from the family's nanny, attorneys said. Renee Cuela, of Redwood City, faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison after entering guilty pleas to one felony count of grand theft and another to possession of stolen property, said San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. She also agreed to pay up to $64,000 in restitution. (You have to really feel for the nanny, here. Can you imagine the element of mistrust in that home? Although kudos to the housekeeper for now claiming that she was a victim of human trafficking)

Neighborhood Flasher Warning (Forest Hills)
Customers at a popular Forest Hills Starbucks have been getting a little bit more than they paid for.A scraggly man has been exposing himself to customers and their children for the last few weeks inside the coffee joint, patrons and employees said.
What made the indignity more irksome was that rank-and-file baristas were told they're not allowed to kick the bum out - a task reserved for managers, according to employees.

Mother Shocked that Dream Nanny not so very Dreamy (For real?)
Chrissie LaBorde thought she'd finally found the perfect nanny to care for her two young children while she and her husband were busy opening their new automotive repair business. On www.craigslist.com, she found Anna DeRosa — a registered nurse with glowing references, and a name and Social Security number that came back clean with the Monroe County Clerk's Office and Social Security Administration. She would be paid $300 per week, with holidays and paid vacation and sick days, to care daily for the LaBordes' children, ages 4 and 6. (You didn't wonder why a registered nurse would work long nanny hours for $300 a week?)

Accused nanny faces new child porn charges
The nanny who allegedly abused a boy in Grand Isle County is now facing a slew of child porn charges. Police say Donald Shepherd, 24, has been charged with 18 counts of using a child in a sexual performance and 6 counts of possession of child pornography. Police say they found over 650 digital images and 50 videos during their lengthy investigation and forensic exam of Shepherd's property. (Ignore the pc rehetoric, it's okay to be suspicious of male nannies. And female nannies!)

“Judge Judy” episode that airs at 3 p.m. Wednesday
Nanny Cynthia Bell of San Diego issuing Lisa Costa and Joseph Dudenhoeffer of Newport Beach, contending they owe her $4,000 for lost wages and the expense of changing her flights after they fired her a week into a nanny job in Europe. They say Bell couldn’t keep their son quiet on the plane, let him get sunburned once they arrived and left the hotel room at one point to party on the beach. Costa tells Judge Judy that Bell couldn’t care for the kid, quit and had a round-trip ticket to use to get home, according to a press release describing the episode. Judge Judy isn’t exactly falling for it, though.