Washington County has witnessed a tragic case, culminating in the sentencing of Teresa Louise Biswanath to two years in prison for the death of an infant in her care. On April 30, 2025, after being convicted of criminally negligent homicide, Judge Erik Buchér delivered justice last Friday by handing down the sentence for the events that transpired in August 2022. Along with this, she faces three years of post-prison supervision and can no longer operate a licensed childcare center, according to the Washington County District Attorney’s Office.
Biswanath was operating an unlicensed in-home daycare when the tragic death occurred. Despite her background and training at a recognized childcare center that advocated against swaddling infants over three months old, on the day in question, the defendant swaddled the 11-month-old victim in a blanket made for newborns. Using straps, she attempted to constrain the child, who could roll over and crawl, which is dangerous due to the risk of suffocation. The senior deputy district attorney, Chris Lewman, who prosecuted this case, highlighted that the defendant placed the child facedown on a bed with a dangerously attached 6-inch stuffed animal to his pacifier, which was not a safe sleeping environment.
The fatal decision that Teresa Louise Biswanath took that day to put the infant facedown while swaddled and with a pacifier linked to a stuffed toy in his mouth left him alone long enough for the outcome to turn grim. She discovered the lifeless body of the child only after attending to other matters with the remaining children under her watch. In a panic, CPR was administered and emergency services summoned, yet their efforts to resuscitate the infant were in vain. As per details released by the district attorney’s office, the baby was upstairs unattended for at least an hour as Biswanath intermittently checked on him between dealing with other kids.
In the wake of the preventable death, Washington County's Child Abuse Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) has reaffirmed its commitment to addressing the issues surrounding unsafe sleep environments, which remain a leading cause of child fatality. They've joined forces with the National Cribs for Kids Program, providing eligible families with free crib kits and safe sleep education from community partnerships with the Washington County Public Health Maternal, Child & Family Program and the Healthy Families Program.
