UPDATE: Livermore Babysitter Accused of Abusing Baby Enters Plea

LIVERMORE, CA- The Livermore babysitter accused of smothering a 13-month old boy was in arraigned in court this morning, reportedly pleading not guilty to felony child abuse charges.

Moriah Gonzales, 20, was arrested Feb. 19 after surveillance video from a nanny camera alleged showed Gonzales pacing, trying to calm the screaming child down, then placing her hands on the child’s face, muffling his crying until he became limp, according to ABC News.

NBC News reported that Gonzales was seen before court with her well known criminal defense attorney, William DuBois and her mother but did not comment. However, following the hearing, DuBois reportedly insinuated child’s mothers had a “cozy relationship with police,” which is why he believed “officers jumped all over the case”.

NBC also reported that DuBois stated the mother of the victim had asked Gonzales to take the boy to the park the day after she had seen the video.

Read Patch’s continued coverage of on this story.

Bay City News Update:

LIVERMORE, CA- A baby sitter accused of abusing a 13-month-old Livermore baby boy pleaded not guilty today to a felony child abuse charge. Moriah Gonzales, 20, of Livermore, was arrested on Feb. 19 after the boy's parents called Livermore police after reviewing "nanny camera" surveillance footage that they said showing Gonzales abusing the boy the previous day. But Gonzales' attorney, William DuBois, said today that Gonzales didn't harm the boy and he thinks the case against her is "way over-charged."

DuBois said a pediatrician who examined the boy after the incident in which Gonzales allegedly hurt him "found that there were no injuries whatsoever."

Livermore police Officer Taylor Burruss wrote in a probable cause report that the video footage shortly before 11 a.m. on Feb. 18 initially shows Gonzales holding the boy face to face and pacing with him to try to calm him down as he cried.

But Burruss said Gonzales then placed her hands closer to the boy's face and muffled his cry and then the boy began to squirm and kick and went limp. Gonzales lifted the boy up and flung him over her shoulder in a supine position with the back of his head resting on her shoulder, according to Burruss. Gonzales then put the boy into his crib and left the room, Burruss said.

One of the boy's parents discovered the video footage about four hours later, asked Gonzales to leave and called police, according to Burruss. When police interviewed Gonzales the next day "she provided a statement that was completely inconsistent with what the video showed," Burruss said.

Gonzales "denied hurting the boy in any way" but police decided to arrest her anyway, Burruss said.

DuBois said he believes there are "some inaccuracies" in Burruss' probable cause statement and he doesn't think the boy's parents were concerned about the video footage because they had Gonzales take the boy to a park after they saw the video instead of asking her to leave immediately.

He said, "Nothing I've seen so far indicates that a felony was committed." At Gonzales' hearing in Alameda County Superior Court in Pleasanton today, Judge Jacob Blea issued an order requiring Gonzales to stay away from children under the age of 18.

When Gonzales returns to court on April 8 Blea will hold a hearing on DuBois' request to modify that order. Gonzales is free on $100,000 bail.

Photo courtesy of the Livermore Police Department