Redlands nanny caught on camera abusing child

REDLANDS, Calif. (KABC) -- A Redlands mother has come forward, saying she caught her nanny on camera allegedly abusing her 22-month-old son. This follows a recent case of another nanny in Fontana who was arrested for child abuse after she was caught on tape shaking 1-year-old twins.

Shawna Scott watched the earlier report out of Fontana and saw something similar to what happened to her son, Preston.

"She was upset and yelled at him, and she walked over and she took his bib and she stuffed it in his mouth and held it there, and then walked away," Scott described.

Scott said she recorded the alleged abuse back in April. She contacted Eyewitness News because she said she doesn't want another family to go through what she and her family went through.

Her nanny, 27-year-old Gina Marie Halliburton of Mentone, was arrested on felony child abuse charges. An alarming fact - Halliburton had been Preston's nanny since early 2013 and raised little suspicion.

"She had been with us a year. We were considering a raise," Scott said.

Scott and law enforcement officials have two recommendations to other parents. No.1 is to get a nanny cam.

"The police said it's not a coincidence that the first time you installed a nanny cam that you caught her doing something. It's probably been going on for a few months," Scott said.

No. 2, she encourages parents to trust their instincts when it comes to their children.

"Trust what your child is telling you, even if they're nonverbal," she said. "Preston didn't seem to respond to her. He didn't seem to like her lately. It was right around the time he would have separation anxiety, so we weren't sure if it was just correlating with that or if he just didn't like her."

Now, the answer seems painfully all too clear.

"Had I to do it all over again, I would have had the nanny cam from the beginning, and that's the unfortunate lesson I had to learn, but maybe by sharing my story, someone can avoid what I went through," Scott said.

Scott says little Preston still gets anxious around people who look like that nanny, but otherwise he's doing fine.

Scott hired the nanny through Sittercity. The company released a statement to Eyewitness news saying it takes the safety and security of its members and their families very seriously. They have removed the nanny from their network and warned other nanny services to do the same.