WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — A trial has been scheduled for an unlicensed babysitter accused of intentionally abusing a child in her care.
On Wednesday a Marathon County judge set an eight-day trial for Merisa Sell, beginning on April 5th, 2022 through the 14th.
Sell faces three felony counts of child abuse including two counts for intentionally causing great bodily harm. Investigators say in one case she allegedly shook a 16-month-old girl to the point where doctors found bleeding on her brain.
That child was rushed to a local hospital by her mother after spending the day at Sell’s daycare.
That incident happened in 2018. Further investigation led police to dredge up other accusations that date back as far as 2015 in which Sell is also accused of abusing children in her care including a 4-month-old boy who was also found to have bleeding on his brain. In another incident, a mother told police she found bruising on her son that appeared to come from adult fingers.
Sell also has a history of being fired from other daycares and has previously been investigated for suspected child abuse. She also failed to tell her current clients that her daycare facility wasn’t properly licensed.
She was previously scheduled to go to trial in 2020 but that was delayed due in part to the COVID-19 outbreak.
A final pretrial conference in the case is scheduled for late February.
