Christopher Kaphaem, 44, pleaded guilty in September to 19 felony counts, including child abuse, for the injuries the babies suffered at UnityPoint Health-Meriter hospital in Madison, Wisconsin
A nurse convicted of injuring nine babies in a neo-natal intensive care unit at a Wisconsin hospital has been sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Christopher Kaphaem, 44, pleaded guilty in September to 19 felony counts, including child abuse, for the injuries the babies suffered at UnityPoint Health-Meriter hospital in Madison.
He was sentenced on Thursday to 13 years in prison with an additional seven years of extended supervision. Kaphaem had been facing up to 25 years alone for one of the charges.
During his sentencing hearing, Kaphaem told the parents of the babies he injured that he felt embarrassment and shame for what he did.
'None of what I'm feeling, however, can come close to the myriad of emotions and states of mind experienced by the families here today,' he said.
'You put your trust in me to care for your most precious loved ones and I failed you. The anguish I have caused is something no parent should ever have to endure.'
Kaphaem had earlier told investigators he didn't remember harming the children.
During his sentencing hearing, Kaphaem told the parents of the babies he injured that he felt embarrassment and shame for what he did. Photo courtesy of KWOW
Police began investigating reports of injuries to infants at the UnityPoint Health-Meriter hospital in Madison in February last year
Police began investigating reports of injuries to infants at the hospital in February last year.
Hospital staff had documented an array of injuries to nine infants, including bruising, broken ribs, broken legs and a fractured skull.
Kaphaem inflicted the injuries between March 2017 and February 2019.
Investigators keyed on Kaphaem, who worked the night shift in the unit after other nurses told them that he had cared for the babies.
They said Kaphaem often closed the door to the infants' rooms when he checked on them, ignored alarms, never asked for help and once said he was happy to work with infants because he didn't have to deal with patients talking back to him.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services inspected the hospital in February, days after it suspended Kaphaem, and issued a scathing report saying the facility didn't do enough to prevent the injuries.
The failure was so serious, the report said, that it constituted an immediate threat to patient health safety and the hospital's Medicare contract could be terminated if the problem isn't fixed.
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