Lawmakers in Albany, New York, are pushing for it to be a felony to use fake references and lie on resumes for child care work. The move follows the revelation that a nanny accused of murdering two children in her care allegedly exaggerated her own resume.
As New York Daily News reports, Yoselyn Ortega, used a reference letter written by her niece before she was hired to care for Lulu, 6, and Leo, 2.
“People lied to these parents about who Ortega was, lied to these parents about Ortega’s experience and as a result they relied upon those references and that information and that factored into that decision to hire her,” said Sen. Andrew Lanza said.
Without those references, “it seems clear they would not have hired her and as a result this would not have happened,” Lanza added.
The senator will sponsor a bill making it a crime to lie on child care applications. The bill would be called “Lulu and Leo’s Law,” to commemorate the two young children who were killed in October 2012.
Ortega, who is currently standing trial, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder. The 55-year-old nanny has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to stabbing the two children to death in the bathtub of heir parent’s Upper West Side apartment in 2012.
According to CNN, defence attorneys have argued Ms Ortega was living with depression, hearing voices and experiencing hallucinations. She claims she does not remember the attack.
The children’s mother, Marina Krim, had arrived home with her third child on October 25 to find her two other children stabbed to death.
“I just wanted to wake up from this nightmare that I knew wasn’t a nightmare. It was real,” she said on the witness stand through tears, Reuters reports.
Ms Krim testified that she ran out of her apartment screaming after the horrifying discovery, telling the court: “It was a scream you can’t even imagine is inside of you.
Ms Ortega faces life in prison if she is convicted.
