A night nanny facing multiple aggravated child abuse charges is headed for a jury trial later this year.
Lindsay Johnson, 33, was arrested in late 2024 after a 6-week-old infant in her care was admitted to Intermountain Health Primary Children’s Hospital with brain injuries, broken ribs and a broken femur. She was charged with eight counts of aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony.
Johnson pleaded not guilty on all counts in March 2025, and a four-day jury trial was scheduled to begin on April 28.
The Summit County Sheriff’s Office started investigating Johnson on Nov. 27, 2024, after physicians in the pediatric intensive care unit contacted them. The doctors said the injuries of the 6-week-old infant were caused by non-accidental trauma consistent with “shaken baby syndrome,” according to court documents.
One doctor on the care team specifically told detectives that they had detected a brain bleed, despite “no significant external trauma.” The doctor also noted the infant had been brought to the hospital six days earlier for a fever and had no signs of trauma at the time.
“Physicians ruled out blood disorders that could present similar symptoms and believed (the infant’s) trauma to be inertia generated,” court documents said.
Investigators spoke with the infant’s parents, who said their baby was behaving normally when they handed him off to their night nanny, Johnson, the previous evening.
But the next morning, the infant reportedly refused to eat, and his mother noticed his fist was clenched and both his arms and legs were twitching. She consulted with his father, and both parents then watched as the baby had a “full-body seizure.”
They then took the infant to their pediatrician, where the baby had another seizure, before taking him to Primary Children’s.
“A follow up skeletal survey performed Dec. 12, 2024, revealed that (the child) had four additional fractured ribs that were believed to have been inflicted during the same timeframe as (the infant’s) abusive head trauma,” court documents said.
Detectives determined Johnson was the only person to have contact with the child overnight and arrested her. The Summit County Attorney’s Office later charged her with eight counts of aggravated child abuse, which carries a sentence of one to 15 years in prison if convicted.
She has been held without bail since the time of her arrest after Summit County Third District Judge Richard Mrazik ordered she remain in pre-trial detention based on evidence provided by Summit County prosecutor Joseph Hill.
“I have concerns, not only about, of course, the nature of the charges but about Ms. Johnson’s safety in the community, specifically as it relates to herself and other children she may come in contact with,” Hill explained.
Hill said the state would not have a foolproof method of ensuring Johnson has no contact with children if she were to be released, which would potentially put other kids in the community at risk. He also noted Johnson was a person of interest in a child abuse investigation last August.
In that case, a 3-week-old infant was taken to a medical facility in Vermont with “unexplained bruising,” according to Hill.
“To be clear, there were no charges filed in that case,” Hill said. “The state’s attorney declined to file charges against anybody, but I think it’s concerning that shortly thereafter, Ms. Johnson leaves Vermont and comes to Utah,” Hill said.
Johnson stayed with a friend in Herriman when she moved to Utah in November, but residing with that friend was no longer an option after her arrest. Hill said that increased her flight risk.
He added that Johnson has struggled with self-harm and suicidal ideation in the past, pointing to two specific welfare checks in 2014 and 2019.
“I know those are somewhat dated and, of course, treatment can change a person in the interim. However, it does show, I believe, a pattern of how Ms. Johnson deals with stressful situations,” Hill said.
Hill said investigators had also found online searches on a device owned by Johnson inquiring about seizures after shaking a baby. The searches were allegedly entered before doctors had issued a CT scan and diagnosed the infant with a brain bleed.
Johnson’s attorneys argued that Johnson’s interactions with children could be limited with an ankle monitor, home visits and conditions for release similar to those for sex offenders, including a curfew, no contact with the victims, no contact with children under the age of 5 and no entering places where children congregate, such as a school.
Mrazik sided with the prosecution, though, citing the felony nature of aggravated child abuse charges.
“The severity of that potential sanction creates a powerful incentive for a defendant to flee the jurisdiction, to hurt themselves or to do something else desperate,” Mrazik said.
He also expressed concerns about Johnson’s recent move to Utah, as well as her ability to easily become a child care provider in other states if she were to flee.
“She has previous ties to other states. She has a 12-year professional course of conduct of caring for kids,” Mrazik said. “It’s a portable skill that she could do in other states. Those people hiring her in other states wouldn’t necessarily know about these charges. Her ability to leave and support herself in other places is far stronger than her ties to the state of Utah.”