Galloway Nurse Charged with Abusing Disabled Boy in Her Care

Ashley M. Ortillo, 36, of Galloway, appeared in Superior Court Monday on charges that she slapped, beat and shook a 10-year-old developmentally disabled boy from Gloucester County.

Ortillo was charged last week after the boy’s parents reviewed Ring video footage from their Monroe Township home.

The video showed the nurse striking the child in the face with her hand and cell phone, beating his chest, pressing on his face, shaking the boy, and “aggressively grabbing and stretching him,” when he wouldn't stop crying, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

The Nurse Had Worked With the Boy for Years

The parents think that Ortillo could have been abusing their son for the better of his life, because she had been his caregiver off and on since he was a baby, according to reporting from NJ.com.

The boy has several disabilities, is non-verbal, cannot walk, and has a tracheostomy to help with breathing.

The parents had recently installed a Ring camera because they thought their son was somehow harming himself based on the bruising on his body.

The Prosecutor Described the Abuse Seen on Video

On Monday, Jonathan Amira, the acting assistant prosecutor at the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, described the video footage in court.

The Ring camera footage showed alleged abuse starting around Jan. 20, including Ortillo aggressively pinning the boy’s face down while she suctioned his trachea.

“Then, about 11 minutes later, smacked in the face with her phone for crying, telling him to stop. Smacking his chest, throwing him on the bed, slapping him in the face. There are at least 15 of these instances documented.”

The Nurse Was Released From Custody

According to NJ.com, Ashley Ortillo has been licensed as a registered professional nurse in New Jersey since 2014.

Her attorney argued that she should be released from custody until trial because there might be a “mental health issue at play in this matter.”

He pointed out that she has no prior criminal record, and suggested she receive a mental health evaluation.

The judge reluctantly agreed.

“I can’t fathom how the parents of that child felt when they watched and witnessed that Ring camera footage to see what was happening to their 10-year-old child,” the judge added.

Ortillo was ordered to surrender her medical license and not to have any further contact with the disabled boy or any children other than her own.

Ortillo is charged with: second-degree endangering-abuse/neglect of a child by caretaker; third-degree possession of a weapon (her cellphone) for an unlawful purpose; fourth-degree endangering a developmentally disabled person; and simple assault, which is a disorderly persons offense.

Her next court appearance is in March.