Lawyer: Ex-Wisconsin nurse to plead guilty to hurting babies

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A defense attorney says a former Wisconsin nurse is prepared to plead guilty to hurting infants in a Madison hospital’s intensive-care unit.

Forty-three-year-old Christopher Kaphaem faces 19 felony child abuse counts involving nine infants.

WKOW-TV reports Kaphaem’s attorney, Jonas Bednarek, notified the court of the plea in a letter Monday.

Bednarek wrote that his client “is prepared to accept responsibility and enter pleas of guilty.”

According to the complaint, police began investigating reports of injuries to infants in UnityPoint Health-Meriter Hospital’s infant intensive care unit in February 2018. Hospital staff had documented injuries to nine infants, including bruising, broken ribs, broken legs and a fractured skull.

Meriter suspended Kaphaem on Feb. 8, 2018, and state regulators later suspended his license. His attorney did not immediately return requests for comment on Monday.