Nanny, 23, allegedly caught on camera abusing kids after dad had 'gut feeling'

A nanny cam set up to watch a German au pair's behavior with her Sherborn, Massachusetts, charges caught her violently shoving a toddler to the ground.

Authorities said in court Thursday Sherborn police arrested Mareike Arbeiter, 23, on Wednesday at the Page Farm Road home where she lived and cared for two young children, including the 3-year-old boy she is accused of assaulting, prosecutor Emily Jackson said Thursday during Arbeiter's Natick District Court arraignment.

"When the police spoke to her about physically assaulting my son, she was very cold," the child's father told Judge David Cunis when the father was seeking a restraining order on the family's behalf. "She told them, 'He was driving me crazy.' She had no regret."

The father told Cunis that he and his wife hired Arbeiter through a service to care for their two children. The father said he noticed both children had been "acting up" lately, and he said he had a "gut feeling" that Arbeiter may have been the cause, WCVB-TV reported.

So, the man said, he set up several hidden cameras in the house earlier this week to monitor her. On Wednesday, when reviewing the video, he caught an assault that occurred Tuesday.

"She grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him hard enough that his head snapped back, and he fell to the ground," the father said. "She left the room, and then came back, and instead of walking around him, she stepped over him. He was face down, crying."

Though there were no visible injuries on the child, the father said his wife was taking the boy to the doctor as a precaution.

Cunis granted the restraining order, banning Arbeiter from having any contact with the family.

Police charged Arbeiter with domestic assault and battery.

Jackson asked Cunis to hold Arbeiter on $500 bail. She said the case is "extremely concerning" because it involved an assault on a child that "she was there to care for."