Kindergarten assistant sentenced to 17 years for manslaughter of infant
Inna Skivenko murdered Yasmin Vinta, a one-and-a-half year old at the kindergarten she worked at, by smothering her in a blanket and laying on top of her.
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERIThe one-year-old baby who was smothered to death with a blanket(photo credit: Courtesy)
Inna Skivenko, the kindergarten assistant that was indicted last year for manslaughter of an infant, was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Sunday."17 years is nothing," responded Yasmin Vinta's father. "She deserves 60 years. She murdered my child.""There are over 30 acts that the defendant committed to nine babies," Judge Ami Kobo stated. He clarified that the defendant was responsible for her harsh actions and that she was aware that she would have to undergo long treatment in the near future.The Central District Attorney's office said that "the many years imposed on the defendant reflect the severity with which the legal system views violence against helpless minors by those responsible for them."Skivenko, a 23-year-old temporary resident from Ukraine, worked as a kindergarten assistant at the Masha Vehadov school in Petach Tikva, where she would care for infants between ages 3 and 18 months, and allegedly shook them, kicked them and slammed them against the floor, as was discovered using hidden cameras in the kindergarten after the death of Yasmin Vinta.Yasmin Vinta, one-and-a-half years old, was killed by Skivenko, who dragged the baby with one hand as she hung in the air, then threw her onto the floor with her face in a mat. She then covered her and another infant in a blanket and sat on them while playing on her phone.Every time the babies moved, Skivenko increased pressure to prevent them from freeing themselves. She later wrapped the baby's head and upper body with a blanket so she could not breathe. Skivenko noticed that the child was not responding when she lifted the blanket, but simply returned it to place, leaving the baby to be found dead by another assistant hours later.Skivenko signed a plea bargain half a year ago in which she admitted to the acts attributed to her, primarily the attack on nine other infants.
