Babysitter Sentencing: Starved Toddler Case Reveals 'Severe' Abuse That Horrified Court

A 21-year-old babysitter from Virginia has been sentenced in connection to abusing a child left in her care in periods between 2023 through 2024. Carly Rae Webb was sentenced on Friday, 13 March. She will be serving 12 months in jail and three months in probation.

According to attorney Stacey Stickney of Bedford County Deputy Commonwealth, Webb repeatedly mistreated a child aged between 19 and 23 months over a period from October 2023 to January 2024.

Prosecutors said Webb deprived the toddler of food and water for extended periods, sometimes reaching up to 21 hours, while also leaving the child confined in a crib for as long as nine hours.

Investigators reviewing video footage described a pattern of cruelty, including hitting the child, screaming in her face, and calling her abusive names. Webb was also seen throwing the food left for the toddler by her parents, mocking her, and pretending to shoot her with a toy gun while she cried.

The abuse became known after the child's parents reviewed surveillance footage from inside their Bedford County, Virginia home where Webb was employed to babysit, per People.

Sentence and Court Outcome

At a sentencing hearing on 13 March 2026, Judge James Updike Jr. handed Webb a total sentence of nine years, though the majority was suspended. She will be serving 12 months in jail, followed by probation.

The court imposed five years for felony child abuse with four years suspended alongside concurrent sentences for multiple misdemeanour assault charges. Although Webb had pleaded guilty to some charges, she had previously been found guilty on all 17 counts in October 2025 before several were later dismissed at sentencing. Webb was sentenced to nine years in total, but will only serve 12 months in jail.

Reports indicate the toddler did not suffer visible long-term injuries from the abuse, or medical reports that determine the abuse has caused malnutrition or developmental delays to the child.

The child's father said he was in disbelief after seeing the surveillance footage, which was only checked after Webb made an offhand comment in 2024, per The New York Times. He said, 'When I saw the videos, I couldn't believe it. Thank God we had the camera.'

Emotions Ran High During Trial

During the trial on Friday, the child's parents were emotional as they delivered their victim impact statements, while Webb also addressed the family with an apology, saying that she did not deserve their forgiveness, according to a report by WSET.

In her statement, the child's mother spoke about the lasting emotional toll on their family, saying there is not a day that passes without thinking of the abuse their child suffered, adding that the child had been deprived of her innocence and sense of peace. Webb said she accepted full responsibility for what she had done.

Stace Stickney described the scenario in court as exactly what everyone was hoping to see, and that the court had given ample punishment to Webb for her crime. She said, 'Well, what we were hoping to see today is exactly what I think we saw, and that was a sentence from this court that was reflective of the degree of abuse of this child, as well as the court noted the duration of the abuse.'

The criminal defense attorney, Chris Kowalczuk, added that the sentence of 12 months in prison was fair, and how he and his client appreciate it. 'A sentence of 12 months is a sentence that I think is fair and reasonable, and I was very appreciative of that on behalf of my client,' Kowalczuk said.