Worker charged with 90 crimes including 10 counts of child abuse

By Linda Cicoira

A childcare worker on Maryland’s Eastern Shore was indicted by a Worcester County Grand Jury Tuesday on 90 criminal violations that included 10 felony counts of child abuse involving nine children who were in her care at the Berlin Education Station Childcare Center in Berlin, Md.

Forty-year-old Heather Lynn Ward, address not disclosed, the childcare worker who was indicted, is being held in Worcester County Jail in Snow Hill, Md.

According to a prepared statement made by the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, a formal complaint was filed on Nov. 2, 2023, after an eight-month-old girl was brought to Atlantic General Hospital, in Berlin, with “significant injury to her left leg.” An investigation conducted by the sheriff’s office Criminal Bureau of Investigation and Child Protective Services ensued.

Video surveillance footage from the child’s classroom at the center “revealed actions by … Ward, that appeared to cause the injuries to the child. The video footage additionally revealed other concerning interactions with several other children under her care,” the sheriff’s statement said.

Sheriff Matthew Crisafulli said the investigation is ongoing and his office “maintains an unwavering commitment to protecting children and will continue to work hand in hand with Child Protective Services and our other community partners to ensure that reports of child abuse are thoroughly investigated, and those responsible are held accountable.”