Positive Update: Hanford Caregiver Arrested For Child Abuse, 13MO Had Brain Bleed From Injuries

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It's a parent's worst nightmare to drop off their child with a caregiver and pick them up severely injured.

That's what Hanford mom Christin Anderson says happened to her now 14-month-old son while at an in-home daycare.

The caregiver has since been arrested, and Anderson hopes other parents learn from what happened to her son.

Christin Anderson is a mom of three.

Her husband, Shannon Anderson, is on deployment. He's a fighter jet pilot in the Navy.


Running a business, Christin needed an extra hand taking care of Levi two days a week and, from time to time, her three-year-old and five-year-old daughters as well.

New to the area, she asked around for recommendations for childcare.

A close friend recommended Courtney Bias, who worked out of a Hanford home.

"The person who recommended her to me, I wholeheartedly trust," Christin said.

On March 21, 2023, Christin dropped off her daughters at school and took Levi to Bias' house.


A little later, she says Bias started texting her, saying Levi was inconsolable.

So Christin agreed to pick him up early, and that's when she noticed something was wrong.

"She had him on the left side of her body, and he was completely unresponsive," Christin said. "I grab my son from her, and he just - he looks gone."

Christin called 911.

An ambulance and Hanford police officers responded.


Chief Parker Sever says there was no indication of abuse initially, but after Levi was flown to Valley Children's Hospital, his injuries told a different story.

Sever says Levi had blood in the spinal column, a problem with his liver, bleeding behind both eyes and a brain bleed.

"According to the doctors that we talked to, this only could've been a result of child abuse. There is no accident that could've caused this immediate type of damage," Sever said. "It was very consistent with what people call shaken baby syndrome."

As police launched an investigation, the Anderson family stayed by Levi's side.

Shannon Anderson was given a 10-day emergency leave to come home.


Levi was in the hospital for 21 days.

He was on and off of a ventilator and had emergency surgery to remove a portion of his skull to relieve pressure on his brain.

While, miraculously, Levi's personality is still the same, he lost mobility on his left side and is still working to gain it back.

His vision has also been altered.

"We have a lot of work to do -- it's going to be a really long journey," Christin said.

Just last week, Hanford Police arrested Courtney Bias for felony child abuse with gross bodily injury.

She has since bailed out of jail.

Christin learned after the fact that Bias was not state licensed.

Hanford caregiver arrested for child abuse, 13-month-old had brain bleed from injuries

It's a parent's worst nightmare to drop off their child with a caregiver and pick them up severely injured. That's what Hanford mom Christin Anderson says happened to her now 14-month-old son.

abc30.com

 

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Discourage people, who have no business caring for children, from going into child care by making the penalty for abusing or neglecting them harsher.

 

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A military family has been fighting for justice since a caregiver was accused two years ago of severely injuring their son.

While they await the trial later this year, they have a new mission: to make sure military families have access to all court hearings regardless of where they are in the world.

Levi Anderson is like most three-year-old boys and loves cake on his birthday and posing for pictures.

His mom, Christin Anderson, says he's come a long way since his life changed two years ago.

"Considering his injuries and how horrific they were, he's doing well, but the definition of good is definitely skewed for me," Anderson said.

In March of 2023, Levi was rushed from a Hanford in-home daycare to Valley Children's Hospital, where he remained for 21 days.

Doctors determined he was severely injured.

Investigators say those injuries were consistent with "Shaken Baby Syndrome."

His caregiver, Courtney Bias, was arrested and charged with child abuse.

Levi is still recovering from the injuries.

He has to wear a helmet because he's still missing a portion of his skull, and he attends multiple doctors appointments and therapy sessions weekly.

"A traumatic brain injury is not something that just goes away. it's something that you deal with for the rest of your life," Anderson said.

Since the very first hearing, Christin has made it a priority to attend every court date and advocate for her son.

But when her husband, a fighter pilot in the Navy, was given orders to relocate to Virginia Beach, Virginia, she realized it wouldn't be as easy as just hopping on Zoom.

"You'd think it'd be a given that I would participate remotely in my minor son's public court hearings, but that was not the case. Instead it was a hard no, you cannot participate," Anderson said.

Kings County District Attorney Sarah Hacker says Marsy's Law provides that victims are entitled to appear in the court proceedings.

However, it doesn't specifically address zoom appearances.

That decision lies with the judge.

"It depends on the judge because the judge is the one who decides how their courtroom is going to be run. It depends from courtroom to courtroom, judge to judge," Hacker said.

After Christin was initially denied, the DA filed a motion asking the judge to carry the spirit of Marsy's law into zoom appearances.

The judge approved that decision and, as long as the case remains with the current judge, Christin will have remote access moving forward.

But she doesn't want any other military family to have to deal with this in the future.

So she's now pushing to create "Levi's Law."

"What I'm trying to do is create some legislation that states that if you have a minor child, on the defense or prosecution, that you can participate remotely," Anderson said.

She's also rallied support on social media, growing her TikTok page to nearly 200,000 followers by sharing Levi's story.

She says she won't stop fighting for military families or her for son.

"It's very, very important that I'm there to be heard, and it's important that I'm there to be a voice for Levi and one day, when he grows up, he'll know that his mom fought for him and that justice was served," Anderson said.

This week, Christin is getting another step closer in her push to create Levi's Law.

She has a meeting scheduled with staff of Congresswoman Jennifer Kiggans, who represents the area where she now lives.

The good news for Levi is he's set to receive a skull replacement in April.

If all goes well, he'll be able to live without a helmet by the end this year.

Mom whose son was rushed to hospital from caregiver's home pushes to create 'Levi's Law'

A military family has been fighting for justice since a caregiver was accused two years ago of severely injuring their son.

abc30.com