Babysitter left child without food or water for up to 21 hours until parents came home, investigators say

BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ/Gray News) – A babysitter in Virginia accused of abusing a child she was watching will be spending time in jail.

Carly Webb was sentenced on Friday to serve 12 months in jail and three years on probation.

According to the Commonwealth, Webb abused the child between the ages of 19 and 23 months from October 2023 to January 2024.

Carly Rae Webb-2024 mugshot (Blue Ridge Regional Jail)

Bedford County Investigator Michelle Alderson testified at trial that she reviewed months of footage showing multiple moments in which Webb appeared to ignore, mistreat and at times physically assault the child.

At trial, the state told the court that the child sometimes went up to 21 hours without food or water while in Webb’s care. The state said on certain days, the child would be put to bed at 8 p.m. the night before.

Webb would go to babysit the child after 6 a.m. the next day, depriving her of food and water, until the parents came home from work after 4 p.m.

She also would sometimes leave the toddler in the crib up to 9 hours while she was babysitting.

Prosecutors also said security video in the home, showed Webb throwing away food and drinks that the parents prepared for the child.

The judge sentenced Carly Webb on one count of felony child abuse to five years, with four years suspended. She was also sentenced on five misdemeanor counts of assault and battery, with those sentences running concurrently with the felony sentence.

Webb pleaded guilty to five of the seventeen charges against her, but a judge found her guilty in October 2025 on all 17 counts.

In total, Webb was sentenced to nine years but will only serve 12 months behind bars.