Florida woman found guilty of beating infant who now lives in Clear Lake

NAPLES, FL – A Florida woman who was arrested in 2010 after police say she hit a 5-month-old boy in the head – causing a traumatic brain injury – was found guilty Tuesday in a Florida courtroom of aggravated child abuse. The boy, Quentin Maulsby, now 3, lives with his family in Clear Lake.

Cherie Marie Landowski, 24, of North Naples, will serve 10 years in prison for her crime.

This is what happened, according to Collier County Sheriff’s Office reports:

Landowski contacted the baby’s mother around noon and told her that the boy had been vomiting. When the mother arrived at Landowski’s home to pick him up, she saw that the baby had a bruise or abrasion on his forehead. When she asked Landowski how the child’s injury occurred, Landowski told her that a toy had stricken him accidentally.

The mother took the baby to the pediatrician, who told her to take him to the emergency room. By this time the baby was at times shaking and at other times going limp.

While he was in the emergency room at North Collier Hospital, the staff determined that the injury could not have been accidental and notified deputies. The infant was later transported to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, Fla. for specialized care.

As a result of the investigation, deputies determined that Landowski was responsible for causing the injury.

“She’s got 8.5 years at least minimum to sit there and think about it, and I hope she does think about it every day, because it will bother me the rest of my life,” Quentin’s father Grant Maulsby said, WINK news reported.