Former child car seat-safety tech charged with child abuse
December 5, 2024 | By Mike Donoghue | CorrespondentUPDATE: This post was updated at 11:40 a.m. with information from the Vermont Agency of Transportation.
A former Waterbury woman who was honored by the state this fall for her child car seat safety work is facing five counts of aggravated child abuse in Utah, court records show.
Lindsay Johnson and Lt. Kevin Geno of the Rutland County Sheriff's Department take a break during a 2023 child car seat safety seat check event in South Burlington. Photo by Mike Donoghue
Criminal charges against Lindsay E. Johnson, 32, stem from a possible “shaken baby syndrome” incident with a 6-week-old boy while she was serving as his night nanny for a couple, the Summit County Sheriff's Department in Utah said.
Johnson, who pleaded not guilty to the charges this week, had relocated to Utah during the first week of November, according to the Summit County Sheriff's Department. Each count carries up to 15 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
A judge in Summit County District Court ordered Johnson held without bail on Monday after the prosecution said it feared she might flee back to Vermont. Johnson told sheriff’s deputies she holds childcare certifications that allow her to work anywhere in the country.
The child’s injuries included a brain bleed, two broken legs and a broken rib — all consistent with shaken baby syndrome, Utah officials said.
The Mayo Clinic describes shaken baby syndrome as “a serious brain injury resulting from forcefully shaking an infant or toddler.”
Utah court records indicate that both parents reported their baby was normal and healthy when they handed the child to Johnson who was their night nanny at 10 p.m. on Nov. 26. The following day at 7 a.m. the baby was returned to the parents and they noticed he was not responding normally and appeared to be having possible seizures, officials said.
The child was taken to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City for brain injuries that doctors said were caused by non-accidental trauma, the sheriff's department reported. He was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
Johnson was the only known person to have contact with the child while the parents were away, the charging documents claim.
Vermont experience
Vermont State Police in Berlin confirmed Wednesday that Johnson had recently been the focus of a possible child abuse complaint in Waterbury. The Washington County State's Attorney's Office determined there was no basis for any charges after reviewing the investigation, Detective Sgt. Mathew Nadeau said.
While living in Vermont, Johnson had offered child car seat safety programs in recent years through the Waterbury Ambulance Service and the Chittenden County Sheriff's Department. She was designated a civilian deputy for safety programs this fall for a couple of months, but had no law enforcement powers, Chittenden County Sheriff Dan Gamelin said.
She had volunteered for both public safety agencies in recent years, including 1,100 hours in 2023. The Chittenden County Sheriff's Department hired her in August on a limited part-time basis to do safety seat work, primarily at the Champlain Valley Fair and one event in Bennington, Gamelin said.
The Vermont Highway Safety Office selected Johnson in October to receive the Ruby Rainault Occupant Protection Award at the State House in Montpelier. The award is named for an Essex County Deputy Sheriff killed in the line of duty when struck by a box truck on U.S. 2 in Lunenburg in November 2003 while conducting Occupant Protection Safety checks. Rainault was the first female police officer killed in Vermont in the line of duty.
The Agency of Transportation began taking down from its website this week any mention of Johnson winning the Ruby Rainault award and photographs with her from the State House ceremony in mid-October. The script of the ceremony also had been posted, but by mid-morning Thursday the portion about Johnson and her award also had been scrubbed from the state website.
Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn confirmed that the Vermont Highway Safety Office had asked about removing the information about Johnson’s award after her arrest. Flynn said he concurred.
One group photograph of all the 2024 award winners had Johnson on the extreme right, but that has now been cropped to remove her. More than two dozen photos of the individual award winners still remain available on the AOT website, but there are none of Johnson.
In Waterbury
Johnson was a Child Passenger Safety technician for 6 ½ years and became an instructor in 2021. She worked with a Vermont Health Department program called Be Seat Smart and was based at the Waterbury Ambulance Service station on Guptil Road in Waterbury Center.
Waterbury Ambulance Service Executive Director Maggie Burke said Johnson was not an employee or an ambulance service crew member. Johnson’s work at the station came free to the agency and was a valuable community service, Burke said. Johnson did car seat fittings at the station and at community events such as farmers markets and wellness fairs. She also helped financially strapped community members get car seats free of charge.
After learning about Johnson’s arrest and charges in Utah, Burke sent an email to Waterbury Ambulance crew members on Wednesday. In it, Burke explained Johnson’s previous role as a child passenger safety specialist based in Waterbury.
“To clarify, Lindsay was never a volunteer or active member of Waterbury Ambulance Service’s operational crew. She was involved with us through the ‘Be Seat Smart’ program, where she facilitated car seat fittings,” Burke wrote. “Our professional relationship with Lindsay ended in April 2024 on mutual terms as she transitioned to other opportunities.”
Since then, Burke said the agency has referred community members to other car seat specialists in the region. She said Waterbury Ambulance may look to resume the service once it moves to its new station in downtown Waterbury in 2025.
As of Thursday morning, Johnson’s professional website and Instagram account promoting her work as a certified newborn care specialist located in Vermont were still online. The website describes her training, experience, and services offered in caring for infants including daytime, overnight, and 24-hour care with testimonials from parents. A Facebook page was no longer available.
Waterbury Roundabout reporter Lisa Scagliotti contributed to this report.