10 Worst Babysitters in History

10 Worst Babysitters in History

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the 10 Worst Babysitters in History.

For this list, we’ll be looking at people convicted of horrible things while entrusted with children.

Which of these horrifies you the most? Tell us in the comments.

Louise Woodward

This case ignited intense media coverage, especially in the US and UK. On 9 February, 1997, 18 year old British au pair Louise Woodward was minding eight-month-old Matthew Eappen in Newton, Massachusett. After Matthew died from a fractured skull and internal bleeding, Woodward was tried and convicted of second-degree murder. Prosecutors argued that she must have shaken the baby and dropped him onto a hard surface. On appeal, a judge reduced the conviction to involuntary manslaughter, and Woodward was freed after 279 days. She swore in a polygraph test that she had not caused the child any injuries. The case remains controversial, and some medical professionals have since questioned the evidence used to convict her.

Betty Smithey

At the time of her release in 2012, this former babysitter was the longest-serving female inmate in American history. Smithey was 20 years old when she was found guilty of first-degree murder in 1963. She committed the crime while babysitting four children on New Year’s Day in Phoenix, Arizona. Smithey admitted to using a stocking to perform the act. She was initially sentenced to life in prison. However, while in prison, she received a letter from the victim’s mother offering forgiveness. After that, Smithey became a model prisoner and was eventually granted clemency.

Gyulchekhra Bobokulova

In 2016, this nanny shocked passersby in Moscow when she brandished graphic evidence of a murder outside a metro station. The Uzbek woman had been stopped by police for a document check, when she pulled a head out of her bag. It belonged to a four year old girl who she had been taking care of. After allegedly killing the girl, Bobokulova had set the house on fire. Reportedly, Bobokulova said she heard ‘voices’, and that Allah had told her to commit the crime. She had watched the child many times before this, which somehow makes the whole thing even sadder.

Gabriela Gonzales

In 2011, Gonzales was left in charge of her roommate’s two year old daughter in Richmond, Virginia, when the child suffered fatal injuries. The young girl was taken to the hospital via ambulance, where she lived for three days on life support before passing away. The babysitter claimed that the toddler hurt herself by falling off of a bed. However, based on the severity of her injuries, it was suspected that something more violent took place. Gonzales was found guilty and sentenced with 20 years in prison. It’s hard to imagine how someone could commit such an act, especially a mom with a toddler of her own.

Yoselyn Ortega

On October 25, 2012, Marina Krim and her daughter Nessie returned to their New York City apartment to discover a horrific and heartbreaking scene. 50 year old caretaker Yoselyn Ortega had stabbed Krim’s two other children to death and left them in the bathtub. Upon discovery, Ortega turned the knife on herself, but survived. She later said that she had been experiencing money troubles, and was angry because the Krims had suggested she do housework. In 2018, Ortega was found guilty of first- and second-degree murder. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Elzbieta Plackowska

This woman from Naperville, Illinois, was responsible for the deaths of her own seven year old son and the five year old girl she was babysitting in 2012. Police were horrified by what they found in the second victim’s house, where the incident took place. In addition to discovering the bodies of the two children, who had been stabbed, they also found the bodies of two family dogs. Plackowska tried to blame the incident on robbers at first, then on the devil, but she was ultimately found guilty of the murders in 2017.

Michael Plumadore

On December 22, 2011, Michael Plumadore was left in charge of a nine year old girl and her six year old sisters who lived in the same Indiana trailer park as he did. Tragically, the oldest child lost her life at the hands of her babysitter, who struck her with a brick. Plumadore avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty and accepting life in prison without the possibility of parole. Before the incident, members of the victim’s family considered Plumadore “a trusted family friend.”

Agnes Wong

This childcarer in Salford, England, was responsible for the death of a 16 month old boy, Hugo Wang in 2007. In response to the child crying, Wong allegedly swung the boy into a bed or settee. He died from internal bleeding in his brain. By this time, Wong had served as the child’s nanny for months. Based on the state of his injuries, the authorities believe that the child was regularly subjected to harm while under her care. In 2008, Wong was sentenced to prison for five years.

Brenda Gail Cutro

A deadly babysitter is one thing, but a deadly daycare operator is a whole other level. Brenda Gail Cutro was charged with double homicide following the deaths of two infants in her care. They appeared to be victims of trauma and asphyxia. Another infant suffered reportedly injuries as well. The incident occurred in Cutro’s suburban home in Irmo, South Carolina, out of which she ran her daycare business. After her first trial’s conviction was overturned and her second ended in mistrial, Cutro was eventually found guilty. She was sentenced to serve life in prison for her crimes. Prosecutors argued that her actions were the result of Munchausen Syndrome by proxy.

David McGreavy

One of history’s most notorious babysitters, Englishman David McGreavy is sometimes referred to as the “Monster of Worcester.” After being kicked out of his parents home, he had moved in with his friends, whose three children he babysat. In a drunken rage on 13 April 1973, however, he killed them, all in different ways. He later said he had been fed up with the youngest one crying. He left their bodies on a neighbor’s wrought iron fence and fled, but was soon arrested and sentenced to multiple life terms. However, in 2018, a Parole Board found that he had “changed considerably”, and cleared him for release.