Babysitter, 25, blames toddler for ‘touching her genitals as she sat on toilet’
Videos allegedly involving babysitter Victoria Anne Cranmer were handed over to officers as her lawyer insists they showed an “innocent moment”
Cranmer is accused of videoing the sexual abuse of a child under 13(Image: facebook)
A lawyer acting for babysitter Victoria Anne Cranmer has claimed that an alleged sexual assault recorded on her phone was down to the child having “little appreciation for personal space or privacy”.
Cranmer, 25, allegedly made a video recording of herself with the toddler she was babysitting, in which the child can be seen touching her exposed genitals. But Cranmer’s lawyer, Marissa Koerner, insists the 14-second Snapchat video showed an “innocent moment”, and not a criminal act. “Anyone who has spent time caring for young children understands that children often have little appreciation for personal space or privacy,” Koerner said.
“Young children routinely follow parents or caregivers into bathrooms, touch things, ask questions, are curious and fail to recognise ordinary social boundaries.” The Snapchat footage also allegedly showed Cranmer “laughing” during the incident.
The incident had been “blown out of proportion”, Koerner said, adding: “Children often engage in funny, spontaneous or strange behaviour that adults record because the moment is memorable or humorous.”
She has been refused bail pending further investigation(Image: Ocean County Jail)
At a New Jersey bail hearing, Cranmer sobbed as Ocean County Judge Kenneth Palmer ruled she would have to remain behind bars while the “bizarre” and “troubling” incident was investigated further.
The investigation began on May 20 after a mother referred to in official documents as Ms P reported finding a video on an iPhone that had previously belonged to Cranmer.
In the brief clip showing what appears to be inappropriate contact between an adult woman and a child, Cranmer was identified by her distinctive tattoos, which include “boobs, a lightning bolt and a mushroom”, according to police.
According to police, Cranmer lived in Ms P’s home and regularly babysat her child, as well as the son of another local woman referred to in court documents as Ms H. Much of the official documentation has been heavily redacted to protect the identities of the two children involved, but both potential victims are reportedly around two years old.
Cranmer had been living in the home of one of the alleged victims’ mothers(Image: facebook)
After discovering the video, Ms P handed the device over to police, who obtained a search warrant and uncovered several other Snapchat videos of Cranmer with the child, court records say.
In one of the videos, a woman that investigators allege to be Cranmer can be seen sitting on a toilet with her genitals exposed as a child touched her intimately. At least one of the videos had been posted to Snapchat, New Jersey 101.5 reports.
Ms H told police that she had noticed a change in her young son’s behaviour after he had been looked after by Cranmer, and he had developed an aversion to baths.
Following the allegations by Ms H, Cranmer was arrested and booked into Ocean County Jail in Toms River, NJ.
She has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, manufacturing child sexual abuse material, and possession of child sexual abuse material, authorities said.
