Mardela Springs women gets 55 years in prison for child abuse at unlicensed daycare

A Mardela Springs woman has been sentenced to more than 50 years in prison on charges of child abuse and assault.

Nicole Bochenek, 46, was sentenced to 55 years of incarceration after pleading guilty in March to first degree child abuse, first degree assault and two counts of second degree child abuse.

According to a release from the Wicomico County State's Attorney's Office, investigations into this case revealed that Bochenek physically abused three children in her care while operating an unlicensed daycare center out of her home. On June 7, 2023, emergency medical services responded to Bochenek's residence in response to a 911 call indicating a 9-month old child was unresponsive and not breathing. The severity of the child's injuries required her to be transported to Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where the infant was treated and diagnosed with injuries consistent with abusive blunt force trauma and non-accidental trauma, including multiple skull fractures, brain bleeds, spinal fractures and other bone fractures.

At the time Bochenek was responsible for providing daycare services to this child and other children within her home. Wicomico County Child Advocacy Center detectives responded to Bochenek's residence to investigate the incident, at which they time observed injuries to a separate child that Bochenek was employed to care for.

In an interview with detectives, Bochenek admitted to having shaken the infant child in order to silence her cries, and that this had occurred over the course of a couple of weeks. Bochenek also admitted to striking the other child in her care. Pursuant to the investigation, another child was identified as having been physically abused by Bochenek while attending daycare services at her residence, and all three of the victims were under the age of 5 years old.

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This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Mardela Springs women sentenced to 55 years in prison for child abuse