NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- An Orange County woman was charged with assault on Tuesday in connection with an attack that blinded her 7-month-old granddaughter, prosecutors said.
Kimberly Bennett, 43, allegedly attacked her granddaughter inside their home in Middletown this past Feb. 22, the Orange County District Attorney’s office said Tuesday.
Police officers and emergency personnel who responded to the home that day found the girl unresponsive, with serious facial bruising, the DA’s office said. The girl’s eyes and brain were seriously damaged by the attack, and the girl ultimately lost her vision, according to the DA’s office.
Bennett, who was her granddaughter’s primary caregiver, faces charges including first-degree assault in connection with the attack, the DA’s office said.
She is currently being held at the Orange County Jail, and faces up to 25 years in prison if she is convicted, prosecutors said.
“There is no excuse for inflicting these types of life altering injuries on an innocent baby,” District Attorney David Hoovler said in a statement on Tuesday. “It is even more unthinkable that these injuries could have been inflicted by the person who was primarily responsible for the child’s wellbeing.”
Bennett’s attorney information wasn’t immediately available Tuesday.