A Virginia babysitter who prosecutors say subjected a toddler to months of cruelty — starving, taunting and physically abusing the little girl while secretly recorded by home cameras — has been sentenced to jail.
Carly Rae Webb, 21, was sentenced Friday in Bedford Circuit Court to one year behind bars followed by three years of probation for abusing the child she had been trusted to care for.
The case shocked even the judge overseeing it.
Bedford Circuit Court Judge James Updike Jr. said he had never seen a child abuse case supported by so much disturbing video evidence in nearly five decades on the bench.
“In 47 years on the bench, I’ve never seen anything like it,” the judge reportedly said after reviewing the footage.
The videos — captured by cameras inside the family’s home — documented what prosecutors described as a sustained pattern of cruelty toward a toddler who was between 19 months and nearly two years old at the time.
According to prosecutors, Webb frequently left the child locked in her crib for hours at a time without food or water.
Surveillance footage showed the girl being kept in the crib for as long as nine hours while Webb ignored her.
In some cases, prosecutors said the child went without food or drink for more than 21 hours.
Video evidence allegedly showed Webb throwing away food and drinks the girl’s mother had prepared before leaving for work.
In one particularly troubling instance, the child was put to bed at around 8 p.m. and did not receive anything to eat or drink until about 4 p.m. the following day — when her parents returned home.
The abuse captured on video went beyond neglect.
Prosecutors said Webb was seen kicking and hitting the child and screaming at her.
At times, she allegedly mocked the crying toddler, calling her “an effing B.”
In other clips, Webb placed the child inside a box and pretended to shoot her with a toy gun while taunting her.
Meanwhile, prosecutors said Webb was sometimes seen eating food in front of the starving child.
The horrifying behavior continued for months before the family discovered what had been happening.
“When I saw the videos, I couldn’t believe it,” the child’s father said during court testimony.
“Thank God we had the cameras.”
In October 2025, Webb pleaded guilty to five of the 17 charges filed against her. The court also found her guilty on the remaining charges.
However, most of those convictions were ultimately dismissed before sentencing.
Judge Updike formally sentenced Webb to five years on the felony child abuse charge and a combined four years on misdemeanor assault charges.
But he ordered the sentences to run concurrently and suspended all but one year behind bars.
The judge said the length of the abuse was a major factor in his decision to impose a harsher sentence than typical guidelines.
“That is where I find the aggravation in this case,” Updike said, referring to the months-long pattern of abuse.
During the hearing, Webb tearfully apologized to the court.
“I totally failed her in that responsibility,” she said of caring for the child.
“It was terrible. I was totally in the wrong.”
But the victim’s family described the betrayal as devastating.
“My baby girl was so much stronger than you,” the child’s mother told Webb in court.
The father said the abuse and the videos documenting it will haunt him forever.
“No parent should ever have to see the things I saw,” he said.
Under the terms of her sentence, Webb must maintain good behavior for nine years in order for the remainder of her sentence to stay suspended.
She is also permanently banned from caring for children and prohibited from contacting the victim or her family.
Prosecutors said the punishment reflects the seriousness of what the toddler endured.
“She put the baby through hell day after day, week after week, month after month,” Bedford County Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Stacey Stickney said after the sentencing.
