Foster Parent, Former Teacher on Trial for Child Abuse

MACOMB COUNTY, MI – A former teacher and foster parent is on trial for abuse that allegedly happened more than two years ago. Nicole Gomez-Vilchis, 29, is accused of abusing a 15-month-old girl in 2014. The child and her brother were placed in foster care with Gomez-Vilchis and her husband Hugo in 2013 when the children were removed from their parents' home due to drug use, the Macomb Daily reports.

The trial, in Macomb County Circuit Court, began Wednesday and is expected to continue next Tuesday. If convicted, Gomez-Vilchis faces 10 years in prison.

At one point, Gomez-Vilchis was ordered by a judge to have no contact with children, but that order was rescinded when she gave birth to her own child, the Macomb Daily reports. School officials say she is no longer employed by the Van Dyke Public Schools in Warren where she was a middle school teacher.

According to testimony, the incident allegedly occurred in June of 2014. The report states that Gomez-Vilchis abused the child, now three years old, by squeezing her very tightly when the child became fussy after being put to bed for her a nap. Gomez-Vilchis denied the abuse at first but, according to testimony of police officers, later admitted to squeezing the girl. The two children were removed from the home the day after the alleged abuse occurred.

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