ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A Cobb County babysitter is in jail facing multiple child cruelty charges. She’s accused of hitting and strangling multiple children all under three years old.

Cobb County Police said the investigation started when they got a call from a children’s hospital about a 10-month-old baby with bruising across his body and face. They began looking into his babysitter, 25-year-old Nohely Cabrera.

Between July and October, an arrest warrant states Cabrera allegedly pushed a child off a couch, hit a child in the mouth, grabbed a child by the neck and placed her hands over a child’s mouth and nose while applying pressure to “force the kid to be quiet.”

She’s charged with three counts of aggravated assault-strangulation, five counts of first degree cruelty to children and one count of battery.

Angelica Montalvo said Cabrera, also her neighbor, babysat her 4-year-old daughter over the last year. Montalvo said Cabrera is “a really great person” and was shocked when Atlanta News First told her about the arrest.

“I’m actually surprised,” Montalvo said. “My daughter loves her, actually.”

Montalvo lives in a unit below Cabrera in an Austell apartment. The arrest warrant states the alleged abuse happened in Cabrera’s apartment while she was babysitting multiple children.

Over the weekend, Montalvo said she got a text from Cabrera saying she could no longer take care of her daughter. It came with no explanation.

“I got scared like did my daughter do something? What’s wrong? Is something wrong with you? And she was like no. So, I said, ‘When can I see you to get paid?’ And I never got a message back,” Montalvo said.

Cobb County Police said there are four victims in this case, but there could be more.

Cabrera remains in the Cobb County Jail without bond. Jail records indicate she’s also being held on an ICE detainer for the Department of Homeland Security.

Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved.