Danielle Cleary was sentenced in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for child abuse

United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Danielle Cleary, age 29, of Vermont, but recently living in Pender, Nebraska, on the Omaha Nation Indian Reservation, was sentenced December 19, 2024, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska for child abuse. United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Cleary to 33 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Cleary’s release from prison, she will begin a 1-year term of supervised release.

On January 11, 2023, Cleary struck a 3-year-old minor child in the head with a large toy causing severe head trauma to the child. The minor child was life-flighted from the hospital in Pender to Children’s Nebraska in Omaha, where he was treated for his life-threatening injuries. The minor child ultimately recovered and was released from the hospital a month later. Cleary initially denied causing the minor child’s injury, but later admitted to striking the child in the head pleading guilty to negligent child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury.

This case was prosecuted in federal court because the victim was Native American (or Indian) and Cleary is not an Indian, and the offense occurred on a Native American Reservation giving rise to federal jurisdiction.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation