Former Caregiver Pleads Guilty to Beating 9-Year-Old Disabled Cranston Boy

CRANSTON, RI—A Cumberland woman caught beating a 9-year-old developmentally disabled Cranston boy on a video stream being watched by his parents on a rare night out will serve 18 months of a five year sentence after pleading guilty in Superior Court on Tuesday.

Kimberly Faneuf, 49, pleaded to one count of assault on a severely impaired person before Superior Court Justice Netti C. Vogel. Along with the prison sentence, Faneuf was ordered to perform 50 hours of community service, seek mental health counseling and have no contact with the victim.

Faneuf was arrested in August of 2013 after the boys parents called police and said they were out at a restaurant when they saw her beating him via a cell phone monitor.

Police said the parents immediately left the restaurant when they saw what was happening and confronted Faneuf, who left.

Police viewed the video, which showed  Faneuf grab the child's arm and shake and twist it. It then showed her grab the child's head and the side of his body "at the same time pulling him up into a 90-degree position and then slamming him down on his back on three occasions," according to a police report. "The video also showed her hastily wiping the child's facial area."

The parents found bruises on the boy's forehead and left arm along with a blood spot in his left eye. He also suffered neck and mouth injuries.The boy was treated and released from Hasbro Children's Hospital.

Faneuf, then a Licensed Nurse Practitioner, was hired by the parents to care for the boy to have dinner, a "rare occasion for the couple," said Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin. 

Faneuf, when questioned by police, said that she was overworked and tired and admitted that her care was "not up to standards" that night.

Her license was suspended by the state Department of Health not long after her arrest. She was also fired from her job with Bayada Home Care.

“This young boy needed care and compassion, but in a fit of rage and anger, his caretaker physically assaulted him," Kilmartin said. "As a professionally trained LPN, her actions are even more troubling. The developmentally disabled are among our most vulnerable population, often unable to report an assault or abuse. Had it not been for his loving parents installing a video camera to monitor their son’s health, this assault very well may not have been reported and this defendant free to assault more patients."