A Wisconsin woman has been charged with a felony after authorities say she broke a 9-month-old baby’s leg at a Woodbury daycare center in April.

Chantelle Michelle Cheri Vevang, 35, of Roberts, was charged with one felony count of malicious punishment of a child with substantial bodily harm. She faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The criminal complaint gave the following details:

On April 11, 2024, Vevang was working in one of the infant rooms at the Stepping Stone Early Learning Center in Woodbury caring for a 9-month-old baby girl when the injury occurred, authorities said.

Vevang initially said the baby awoke from her nap about 3 p.m. and “was fussy because she needed a diaper change.” Vevang said during the diaper change on the changing table “she might have applied a little too much pressure” in pushing the infant’s right leg back because she heard a “crack or pop sound.”

Vevang told authorities the baby cried in pain and screamed louder.

Saying she was “scared,” she finished the diaper change and put the baby on the floor before going to another infant room and telling another staff member that the baby had fallen after trying to pull herself up to stand.

An incident report was done and the girl’s family were told she’d fallen while attempting to stand. Staff at the daycare applied an ice pack to the baby’s leg, saying they noticed some sensitivity.

That night, family members noticed the baby’s leg was swollen and that she had red marks near her groin. Family members took her to the doctor the next morning.

When the mother called the day care to say the baby wouldn’t be there that day, she was told that Vevang had given new information saying she had not been “fully truthful” and had heard a popping noise while changing the infant’s diaper.

A medical team at Children’s Hospital said the injury was a “severe totally displayed femur fracture and that the injury could not have occurred from a routine diaper being changed, or from a routine fall,” according to the complaint. The medical team also found three small bruises not consistent with a fall or routine care. A state Department of Human Services investigator said that a femoral fracture in a 9-month-old child was “unusual” and would take “excessive force.”

The baby was put in a leg cast that began at her chest, the complaint said.

Vevang’s next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 14.

Last month, two daycare workers in Blaine were charged with felonies in connection with the abuse of at least three infants.

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