PARIS – A nurse whose treatment of a disabled 5-year-old girl was caught on videotape at her grandmother’s home in Buckfield has been charged with aggravated assault.

Sherry A. Perry, 49, of 393 Taber Hill Road, East Vassalboro, was indicted by the Oxford County grand jury Aug. 19 on charges of assault and aggravated assault against the child, who suffers from Rett Syndrome, a neurological disorder.

The charges came after the girl’s grandmother called the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office on July 28. The grandmother said she had seen Perry’s rough handling of the child on a baby video monitor, according to an affidavit filed by Oxford County Sheriff’s Deputy Chancey Libby.

Perry, a registered nurse, had been hired by the state to help with the care of the child, who lives with her grandmother.

Libby told the grandmother to tape the child and nurse, which she did. Libby said the tape showed Perry repeatedly pushing the girl into the bed, causing the child’s head to strike the safety railing, as Perry changed the girl into her pajamas.

He said Perry also repeatedly grabbed the girl by one of her arms and flipped her, and grabbed the front of the child’s pull-up-style diaper and ripped it off her.

Libby’s affidavit said he showed the tape to the child’s doctor, Kate Herlihy, of Western Maine Pediatrics, and to Department of Human Services caseworker Sherle Heathers before obtaining a warrant for Perry’s arrest.

Perry’s lawyer, David Lipman, said Perry intends to plead not guilty to the charges.

Her bail was initially set at $10,000 cash following her July 30 arrest, but was modified to $25,000 worth of property at a Thursday bail hearing in South Paris District Court. She remains free on bail, and her nursing license remains intact with the Maine Board of Nursing.

Lipman said he had not seen any of the documents in the case and could not comment on the charges.

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