Police say ‘nanny cam’ captures Albuquerque man slapping baby
Suspect booked on charge of child abuse
An Albuquerque man was arrested on suspicion of felony child abuse after, police said, he was caught slapping and abusing a baby on a “nanny cam.”
Lydell Quam, 23, was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center Friday evening on the charge. He is being held there on a $10,000 cash-only bond, according to jail records.
The baby girl’s mother told police that her cousin, Quam, lived with the family at their home in the 1000 block of Pony Lane SW to care for the child, who was 11 months old at the time. The mother suspected Quam wasn’t properly caring for the child, so she installed a camera in the child’s play tent, according to the complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.
She said she was watching the live feed on her cellphone on Sept. 8 and saw her daughter crying on the floor.
The video footage showed that Quam loudly said “shhh!” to the girl and then slapped the child in the face and picked her up and tossed her to the ground. He then backhanded the baby two more times, according to the complaint.
The baby continued screaming so Quam placed a hand over the child’s mouth or neck and pressed his 230-pound body against the baby girl, according to the complaint.
The mother said she rushed home and kicked Quam out of the residence. The girl’s father said he later texted Quam video of the attack and he responded with a text message that contained “I’m sorry” and “:(”, according to the complaint.
The child was taken to a hospital and later released.
Quam was never interviewed by police. It’s not clear if he has yet obtained an attorney.
A judge issued a warrant for Quam’s arrest on Sept. 10, according to the court documents.