Las Cruces Babysitter Charged With Slapping 6-Year-Old

Las Cruces Police have arrested and charged a noticeably intoxicated woman who slapped a 6-year-old girl she was helping care for, according to Las Cruces Police.

Michelle Ann Hansen, 50, was arrested the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 5, and was charged with one count of intentional child abuse.

Las Cruces Police detectives said that Hansen was drinking beer and had consumed shots of liquor on Tuesday afternoon when she arrived at a relative’s home and began helping care for three young children. At some point, the 50-year-old Hansen began roughhousing with the 6-year-old girl and apparently pinned the girl with her back to the floor.

The child told detectives she hit the side and back of Hansen a couple of times in an attempt to free herself. That apparently prompted Hansen to sit up and strike the girl’s face with an open hand. The girl’s mother arrived to find her daughter crying and with a noticeably red and swollen face.

Hansen was transported to the Dona Ana County Detention Center with bond set at $10,000.