Babysitter asks for jail sentence reduction in infant shaking case

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla.- A babysitter who plead guilty to beating and shaking an infant now wants her sentence reduced.

Cherie Landowski is serving 10 years in prison for beating Quentin Maulsby in 2010, but now she says new evidence means she should serve less time.

“For her to claim she should get some post relief is ridiculous. Her sentence was too light in the first place if you ask me she deserves a life sentence which Quentin got,” said Grant Maulsby, Quentin’s father.

Five years ago, the Maulsby’s rushed their infant son to the hospital after they noticed something was wrong.
Landowski later admitted she beat the child over the head with a baby bottle and shook him.

“He was in intensive care for eight days, four brain bleeds, broken bones, he was shaken. She hit him, she confessed to hitting him,” said Grant.

Landowski has severed a year and a half in prison, but now she wants to either change her plea or have her sentence reduced.

Her lawyers argue Quentin has mental problems not from the beating but from genetics. Quentin was diagnosed with autism following the beating.

The Maulsby’s moved to Iowa and a newspaper there did a story on their family, including Quentin’s younger brother who also has autism.

After the story ran, Landwski’s lawyers hired an expert to look at new evidence. The expert said because Quentin’s brother was also diagnosed with autism, she should not be responsible for all of Quentin’s issues.

“Bottom line, regardless of the autism or not, no one is trying to deny our boys have autism. She still beat him, and she still confessed to doing that, and admitted to doing that, and that doesn’t change anything,” said Christina Maulsby, Quentin’s mother.

Prosecutors argue the judge should deny Landowski’s request because her reasoning is insufficient. They said all of Questin’s medical and mental health issues were considered prior to her plea.