Nanny Gets 60 Days in Taped Abuse of Boy

A Manhattan Beach woman caught on videotape abusing the Thousand Oaks toddler she was caring for was sentenced Monday to 60 days in Ventura County Jail and three years’ probation.

Clark and Loren Blowers had hidden a video camera in their home after their 17-month-old son, Donovan, began banging his head on the floor, not speaking and suffering from chronic and severe diarrhea.

The tape, in part, showed live-in nanny Maryam Safiaan forcing the boy to stand against a wall for long periods of time. If he moved, she would slap the boy, hit him with a shoe or strongly tug on his arm, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Christina Harrison.

“Now I know why my son hated sandals,” Clark Blowers said. “This woman was beating him with them.”

Safiaan, 33, pleaded no contest to a single misdemeanor child abuse charge April 23. Her public defender, Liana Johnsson, had no comment Monday.

Safiaan must go through a year of child abuse counseling after her jail release. During her probation, she cannot be employed as a nanny or left unsupervised with any child under the age of 18, Harrison said.

The Blowers hired the nanny in September 1996 and videotaped the abuse Feb. 3. After they fired her, Safiaan was hired by a family in Los Angeles County to care for two children.

Nancy Shokohi, who kept Safiaan on despite the videotape, spoke in her defense. “I trust her, yes I do,” she said. “I had to let her keep staying in my home.”